Cinco de Mayo: An International Celebration of Mexico

Depending on who you are, you may find Cinco de Mayo to be a bit over-rated, or you may look forward to the celebration all year. The truth is, besides the epic fiesta that happens every year, there are lots of reasons why no matter who you are or where you live, you should probably be planning to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Even if it’s just by trying a new Mexican recipe and picking out a new Mexican embroidered dress to wear on the day of, or even some super trendy Mexican embroidered beer koozies to keep things cool when it matters!

Erica Maree Off-The-Shoulder Dress in White

First, let’s clear up one very important thing: Mayo, as in Cinco de Mayo, is not pronounced “mayo” like the “mayonnaise” you put on your sandwich. The ‘a’ is pronounced like you would pronounce it when calling out to your mother after she’s decided to reorganize your kitchen and you can’t find the wine glasses: “MA!”

Cinco de…“Mah-yo.” Comprende?

Awesome! Yay for learning new things! And if you knew that already, well…sorry about that. I bet you said “Ma” out loud anyway.

An interesting fact about Cinco de Mayo is that, contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo is actually not Mexican Independence day or even a national holiday in Mexico. The fifth of May is the anniversary date of a very significant battle in Mexican history that took place in Puebla. Mexican forces were highly outnumbered by French troops, who were, as you can probably guess, not exactly being friendly. Nonetheless, Mexican troops beat all odds and managed to come out on top in the battle. To this day, it symbolizes pride and bravery for Mexicans all over the world.

On top of being a feel-good victory of the underdog story celebration, 5 de Mayo is also the day that people all over the planet celebrate one of the most extraordinary countries in the world: Mexico.

Believe it or not, it is very likely that you use or at least eat something of Mexican origin every single day without even realizing it. Did you know that the color T.V. was invented in Mexico? So was chocolate, birth control, popcorn, and chewing gum. Plus, tons of food is exported out of this country too. Including almost everyone’s favorite: avocados. Fun fact: according to research done by the California Avocado Commission, up to 81 million pounds of avocados are consumed on May 5th every year

The largest Cinco de Mayo celebration actually takes place, Los Angeles. Although of course, you can still find all kinds of festivities all over Mexico too, particularly in Puebla where you can even catch a battle reenactment if you’re lucky.

Mexico is not only home to some of the warmest people you’ll ever meet, but it’s also home to magnificent beaches, mouthwatering food, stunning textiles, and artisan craftsmanship, and so much more. So you see, there are lots of reasons to take advantage of the opportunity to celebrate Mexico for the extraordinary country that it is. Start planning your Cinco de Mayo celebration today by taking advantage of our Cinco de Mayo sale! Order your Mexican mini dress for kids by April 25th, and get 15% off – plus a FREE Frida Flower crown!

Erica Maree is a bohemian fashion and accessories designer based in beautiful Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We create handcrafted pieces with local and national materials like oilcloth and handwoven macramé belts and bracelets, coupled with traditional Mexican embroidery designs to produce one-of-a-kind pieces.

Visit our online shop and celebrate Mexico your own way by supporting Mexican artisans with a Cinco de Mayo outfit from Erica Maree.

Order before April 25th for 15% off all kid’s dresses and get your little boho babies in on the Mexican fiesta action!

As always, thanks for buying handmade!