CITY CELEBRATES CINCO DE MAYO IN DOWNTOWN
Mario Saucedo: It's a celebration of culture, life and community
It was already two days past Cinco de Mayo, but that didn't stop many in Vallejo from celebrating the anniversary of Mexico's victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.
Again put on by the Solano Aids Coalition, downtown Vallejo was filled with ballet Folklorico, dancers, local singers , catrinas, and kids entertainment. Saturday also was a chance to spread awareness about Mexico's culture.
“Today means everything to me,” said Mario Saucedo, the executive director of Solano Aids Coalition. “It's a celebration of unity and culture and melding all the cultures into one. I love the entertainers here today and how everyone comes from different parts of the community. They come to make this successful and beautiful. I'm so proud and I'm so full of joy today.”
Performing at the event was the band Key Elements, led by Patricia Thumas.
“This is very beautiful today and a great way to celebrate Mexico,” Thumas said. “We're honored to provide the music today which is a blend of Latin and Brazilian jazz.”
Two of the performers were Jocelyn Melchor and Camilia Mondragon-Lopez. It was the first time performing for Mondragon Lopez and the second time for Melchor.
“When I hear the applause after one of the dances it makes me feel confident,” MondragonLopez said. “I'm not a confident person by nature so the compliments help with that.”
Both Melchor and Mondragon-Lopez said that putting on the colorful clothes and makeup takes around two and a half hours. Melchor said it's worth it.
“It's a chance to show more people in depth about our cul
ture and how we celebrate in a traditional way,” Melchor said.
Although many people believe Cinco de Mayo is a celebration is the Mexican Independence Day, that is not true. The day is to remember the anniversary of Mexico's victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862 that was led by General Ignacio Zaragoza. Mexico's Independence Day is Sept. 16.
Saucedo said his aim was to bring awareness to the history and meaning behind Cinco de Mayo, but also important events Vallejo has been dealing with.
“Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of culture, life and community,” Saucedo said. “But today also brings the opportunity to bring awareness to HIV and COVID. We are one of the minorities doing very bad with HIV so we need to continue to bring awareness to it. Same thing with COVID. People are getting complacent and not complying with everything, they're not paying attention anymore. So we're asking the community to pay more attention to this. I've been doing this event for years and I'll probably keep doing it until the day I die.”