I guess I was impressed enough with Denver’s Saint Patrick’s
Day Parade in March that I decided to check out the Cinco de Mayo festivities
downtown in May . Denver has tons of Mexicans, so it must be a huge party too,
right? In the same way that Saint Patrick’s Day is a bigger deal in New York
and Boston than it is in Dublin and Shannon, Cinco de Mayo is celebrated more strongly
in the U.S. where it’s viewed as THE Mexican Holiday, when in fact it’s the
celebration of the Mexican victory over French forces in the Battle of Puebla
in 1862 and not Mexican Independence Day.

Well, in other ways it’s kind of different. On Saint Patrick’s
Day everyone becomes Irish for a day, but not everyone in town becomes Mexican
for a day on Cinco de Mayo it seems. The Anglos may go to Mexican restaurants
and get trashed on margaritas and Coronas for Drinko de Mayo, but it’s not the
same. Whereas the Saint Patricks’ Day Parade is a big drinkfest with people
carrying hip flasks and booze in their backpacks and bars opening early in the
morning so celebrants can get a head start before the parade, Denver’s Cinco de
Mayo parade is more of a family affair I discovered . And Mexicans my party at
times, but unlike the Irish (and wannabe Irish) they don’t start on their cervezas
early in the morning.

The parade had some dancers and people dressed in
traditional costumes, and there were some low-rider cars and a couple of
politico-types, but nothing like the major civic celebration on Saint Paddy’s
Day. The real festivities took place in Civic Center Park, where I had my fill
of tacos de lengua y cabeza and a smothered burrito. I couldn’t resist one last
temptation as I was leaving – spicy pork tamales. I thought I was ordering a
plate of a couple tamales for $8 at the stand, one with green chili pork and
one with red chili pork. Instead I was given a plastic bag with a dozen of them
smothered in hot sauce, medio rojo/medio verde as I agreed to when questioned
meaning half of each kind rather than one of each. Awesome tamale meals for
three days at the Man Cave - Yum!