Cinco de Mayo is May 5, 2025. Here's what to know about the history of the holiday.
Cinco de Mayo has become a day to celebrate Mexican heritage, especially in the United States, but before Cinco de Mayo became associated with tacos and margaritas, the day served as a reminder of Mexico's triumph over the French.
Here's what to know about the holiday.
When is Cinco de Mayo 2025?
Cinco de Mayo falls on Monday, May 5, 2025.
What is Cinco de Mayo?
Celebrated annually, Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Mexican army's victory over the Second French Empire, led by Napoleon III, at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, hence the name. The holiday is celebrated across the U.S. and in parts of Mexico, particularly in the City of Puebla, where the epic battle took place.
Story continues after photo gallery.
How do people celebrate Cinco de Mayo?
Americans, including people of Mexican American heritage, along with our neighbors in Mexico, celebrate with parades, festivals, music and food.
While Cinco de Mayo honors Mexico's resilience and bravery in the face of strife, the holiday has also become, for some, an excuse to party.
"Everyone thinks that it's just party time, it's Corona time," Mario García, a Chicanx historian from the University of California at Santa Barbara, shared in a May 2023 interview with USA TODAY.
"It's OK for people to go out and have a good time on a holiday like Cinco de Mayo -- at least they have some sense that it's some kind of a Mexican holiday," García said. "But we should go beyond that. We should have Cinco de Mayo events that go beyond partying and drinking, where we call attention to what the history is."
Why is Cinco de Mayo often confused with Mexico's Independence Day?
Though many might know the lore behind Cinco de Mayo, it is often confused with Mexico's Independence Day, which falls on Sept. 16. It is known as the Día de la Independencia in Mexico.
Part of the confusion about what Cinco de Mayo celebrates likely stems from the names of the two holidays, which might be harder for some English speakers to say. Cinco de Mayo is much catchier than the day of Mexico's independence (Diez y seis de Septiembre), García said.
Another issue is that not enough American schools teach the importance of Chicanx history and its peoples' contributions to the U.S.
"When you study the history of Chicanos and Latinos, of course, they've been history makers," García said. "They've been involved in all aspects of American history, not to mention the wars ... In World War II alone, almost half a million Latinos – mostly Mexican Americans – fought in the war. And they won a disproportionate number of congressional Medals of Honor."
The Battle at Puebla also occurred more than 50 years after the country broke free of Spanish rule. The reason the battle happened in the first place was because French Emperor Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte wanted to claim Mexico for himself.
The French sent troops to force President Benito Juárez and the government out of Veracruz, Mexico.
An outnumbered band of Mexican soldiers faced 6,000 French troops at daybreak in Puebla, a city in east-central Mexico, on May 5, 1862. Mexico, miraculously, was able to claim victory by the evening, at which time Juárez declared May 5 a national holiday.
The victory also helped prevent the French from settling in and helping the American Confederacy in the Civil War, according to History.com.
Why is Cinco de Mayo more popular in the U.S. than in Mexico?
Cinco de Mayo celebrations do occur in Mexico, most notably in the City of Puebla; those events don't compare to Día de la Independencia celebrations, García said. Meanwhile, in the U.S, it's become an annual celebration of Mexican American culture.
It began as a form of resistance to the effects of the Mexican-American War in the late 19th century. The holiday gained popularity during the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
"It becomes a Chicano holiday, in many ways, linked to the Chicano movement, because we discover Mexicans resisting a foreign invader," García said. "They link the struggle of the Chicano movement to Cinco de Mayo."
Companies, especially beer companies and restaurants, began commercializing the holiday in the 1980s, offering customers "Cinco de Mayo" specials and cocktails.
The holiday is now known to some as Cinco de Drinko, and to García as "Corona Day." This Cinco de Mayo, García hopes everyone enjoys their Coronas, but perhaps with a little history lesson to wash it down.
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The clean plates, or remnants left of a dish, will be a clue to the kitchen for what dishes worked, and which might need tweaking. It can also offer insight into portion size and how much people should order. Then Sedlock turns to Beran and asks if he has anything final to add. 'We are rebuilding our identity, and the only way to do that is start at zero and go,' he says. 'You make a mistake, start over. Let's just do it. We'll do it right.' A few moments later, a host moves to unlock the door. The crop of servers watching her yell together — 'Doors!' — and with that, the first customers shuffle in. The facade of Pasjoli looks bright in the late afternoon sun, the moody dark blue now replaced by a cheery turquoise called Deep Lagoon. The dining room is full at 5:45 p.m., with patrons elbow to elbow at the bar. The word bustling comes to mind, a feeling not easily achieved with the constraints of the restaurant's former layout. Now, every corner of the room feels alive, brimming people chatting and sipping cocktails. The menu is shorter, and yes, more approachable than the original, with deviled eggs ($12), the French onion souplette ($14), and the Paris Baguette ($19), described simply as a ham and cheese sandwich. For the final version of the maitake mushroom ($19), Joyce ditched the ranch idea and decided on an allium aioli and a potion bottle of malt vinegar on the side. There's an option to use a cocktail card to choose your own libation adventure ($24). Miniature martinis the restaurant calls 'mar-tinys' and 'snack-quiris' are listed for $14. The French souplettes are a joy to eat, with croutons you dunk into a soup crowded with melted cheese and sweet onions. The chicken liver mousse comes in a petite glass ramekin with a tart cherry aspic lining the top. The burger is an upgraded version of the one Beran served at the bar, with black pepper-crusted grilled onions and a bone marrow aioli. The bun is now made at the restaurant, a cross between a brioche and a potato roll. At 2 a.m. the previous morning, Hsing rebuilt the website and added the words 'French is fun' to the homepage. The mantra also shows up on the new receipts. By the time the evening ends, Beran and Joyce have changed the construction of the souplette, filling them to order. The maitake mushroom is no longer dredged in flour. Instead, it's battered like tempura and cut into two pieces. More surface area of crunch. More to dip. The tweaks, shifts and slight alternations will continue through Thursday, tonight, when the restaurant officially reopens to the public. Until the moment the staff yells 'Doors' in unison and welcomes the first customers to the new, casual Pasjoli. With a new facade, new art on the walls and an entirely new menu, it's the Pasjoli you remember, with a little less fuss, and if Beran is successful, a lot more fun.
