Is cinco de Mayo a festival?
367319
There are sometimes festivals on/for Cinco de Mayo.  The literal translation is 5th of May.  It is one of Mexico's independence days (I believe they celebrate two).
745444
All the old "cross quarter" festivals like Imbolc (Brigit's Day, 1st Feb), Beltaine (Whit Sunday), Lunasa (8th Aug) and Samhain (Halloween) have pagan roots, also the Midsummer fires as well as wakes and there is no "might" about it. They most definitely do.
109208
Mardi Gras is also called Shrove Tuesday and precedes the somber Catholic period of Lent. Many international cities celebrate Mardi Gras, including New Orleans, Rio de Janeiro and Venice. Mardi Gras is Tuesday, February 28, 2006 this year. It is Tuesday, February 20, 2007 next year.  As far as it's race goes, I think it has nothing to do with the people who live there.  Turtle races, I guess?
353869
http://www.donquijote.org/culture/spain/fiestas/lasfallas.asp\n\nIts some party in Spain
1063159
We had one already on May 1st. I actually enjoyed it. \nI went shopping and had a nice day with my family. Of course, there were Americans of Mexican descent doing the same. Fine by me. To me, if you call yourself a Mexican(any other nationality), and not an American, I won't miss you at all.
401056
Almost all of the customs here in the US (other than Native American) come from somewhere else. Most of our major holidays are based on traditions from other countries; we have st. patrick's day, valentines day, christmas, easter, cinco de mayo, and many others that were all brought here from elsewhere. We are a malting pot, and all the settlers brought their customs and traditions with them. Different parts of the country may place emphasis on different cultural traditions depending on the general base of their population or the population that settled that area.
521813
It is a day of celebration of when the Mexican army defeated the French. There was just a program on the Discovery channel about 2 hours ago about it! Check the listing I'm sure it will be on again.
304326
Balloon Fiesta -- Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.\n(Kodak Balloon Fest.)
492753
If you're in Los Angeles, you might want to drive down to Santa Ana.  I understand there are a lot of events for 5 de Mayo.  It was broadcast live by the news crew of KTLA channel.  Olvera Street in Downtown L.A. I know also has its events with lots of music, food, people, and more.  Have fun!
562009
No, i am not. \n\nAltougth in Mexico some people still celebrates this catholic holliday, i'm not so close to those traditions. \n\nIn fact, now that i heard about it, i feel this is strange, since my family is so traditional. \n\nAnyway, are you going to celebrate it? how will you do it?
162773
ahiyas (overleaf)! The “precious offering” in May when the town of Lucban in Quezon Province becomes a blaze of color as each house is covered with flowers. Originally, a pagan harvest festival, Pahiyas is now given in the honor of San Isidro Labrador, the farmer’s patron saint. \n\n            Although the word fiesta is Spanish, Filipinos have made it their own. It is not unusual for entire towns to participate in the celebration. Planning can take up to a year, and the decorations, costumes and events are often both expensive and lavish. \n\n            Like Pahiyas, almost every major fiesta in the Philippines has its roots in the pre-colonial period. The god Bathala created the land and the sea and his creations have always been part of the actual and mystical way of live in the Philippines. The sea and the land provide food and shelter, but the spirits of nature who dwell in these places are not always benign and must be appeased. When the Spaniards came they brought with them a new God and new spirits who had to be honored too. To the adaptable Filipino, a celebration for one god should please another as well. \n\n            Principal fiesta themes are fertility and planting, harvest, adoration and supplication. Sometimes they can be a combination of several themes such as the danced rites at Obando, which is both a supplication of infertile women to San Pascual and Santa Clara to bless them with a child hand a thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest. \n\n            The Ati-Atihan held on Kalibo, Aklan is another combined festival. Originally it was celebrated by the Negritos (Ati) to commemorate their new friendship with the Bornean datus. However, four or five centuries later, the Panay Filipinos borrowed the festival to celebrate the Santo Niño’s intervention on their behalf against the marauding pirates of Mindanao. \n\n            While Christmas and Easter are purely Christian festivals, the enterprising Filipinos are always quick to make any fiesta reflect their own baroque spirit. During Christmas, which officially begins nine days before Christmas Eve (actually it can begin as early as September 1st) and ends with the Fest of the Three Kings, is the longest Yuletide celebration in the world. The symbol of Christmas in the Philippines is not the Christmas tree, but the parol, a five-pointed paper star lantern that probably had its origins in  the Mexicans piñata. While they come in all sizes, the electric parols of Pampanga stand 20 to 30 feet high, giving off a blaze of kaleidoscopic color and light that fills the evening sky. \n\nEaster, celebrated in the Philippines as Holy Week, means fiesta and every barrio hosts a procession or a feast. Many barrios bring out elaborate, flower-draped processional carrozas (hand-pulled carts) carrying full-size figure's of the characters in the Easter story and parade them through town. One of the most colorful pageants during Easter is the Moriones held in Marinduque, where the celebrants don oversized Roman legionnaire masks and reenact the legend of "longinus According to St. John./I All over the Philippines, but primarily in the provinces of Pampanga, laguna and Batangas, pen itents perform the rite of flagellation, some allowing themselves to be crucified. \n\nOne of the most famous devotional processions is the Feast of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila. Thousands of men (it is an all-male fiesta) work their way to the carroza carrying a life-size image of the kneeling Christ to touch their handkerchief to the statue. The handkerchief which actually touches the icon is said to have healing powers. \n\nWhile at most of the fiestas the processionals involve humans, in Pulilan, Bulacan the carabao, the national beast of burden, is the principal participant. It is the farmer's fiesta for the patron saint of husbandry, San Isidro, and on this special day the carabao is king. The animals is groomed and decorated with flowers, paraded in the streets
548307
Do you mean cinco de mayo?  It's when the Mexican army defeated the French at la Batalla de Puebla in 1862.
417005
Actually, I have found that it is not.  I moved here from Ohio, and the friends that I have made, party for all holidays.  When I mentioned St. Patrick's day they were like "Why?"  lol they even joked they needed no reason to drink!!! cause they do that all the time.  There were hardly any decorations up ANYWHERE --
257260
May Day in Hungary used to be a big communist parade in every town before 1989. Schoolchildren and workers would walk through the streets with lots of flags and balloons. Piped music would be played through loudspeakers in the streets and most people would enjoy it as a social occasion rather than a political event. Nowadays it is a lot less political, but there is still a parade, often with soldiers, sometimes dressed as traditional hussars.\n\nOne of the easiest examples of Hungarian craft activities that you can do yourself is making mézeskalács, a decorated Hungarian honey biscuit, cut into shapes like a soldier on a horse, or a heart, and sometimes covered in coloured sugar icing. They were often given by girls to their sweethearts.
633685
Cinco de Mayo and Uno de Mayo
105655
There are more mexican restaurants, and more people speaking spanish. The culture has changed as well as cinco de mayo has become a mainstream celebration.
771434
The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos, Día de los Difuntos or Día de Muertos in Spanish) is an ancient Aztec celebration in memory of deceased ancestors, celebrated on November 1 (All Saints' Day) and November 2 (All Souls' Day).\n\nThe holiday is especially popular in Mexico, where it is a national holiday, and is celebrated in the Philippines, in Mexican-American communities in the United States, and to a lesser extent in other Latin American countries. It is a public holiday in Brazil, where many Brazilians celebrate it by visiting cemeteries and churches, bringing flowers, lighting candles and praying.\n\nThough the subject matter may be considered morbid from the perspective of some other cultures, Mexicans celebrate the Day of the Dead joyfully, and though it occurs at the same time as Halloween, All Saints' Day and All Souls Day, the traditional mood is much brighter with emphasis on celebrating and honoring the lives of the deceased, and celebrating the continuation of life; the belief is not that death is the end, but rather the beginning of a new stage in life\nThe origins of the Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico can be traced back to the indigenous peoples of the area, such as the Aztec, Maya, P'urhépecha, Nahua, and Totonac. Rituals celebrating the lives of ancestors have been observed by these civilizations for at least the last 3000 years. In the pre-Hispanic era, it was common to keep skulls as trophies and display them during the rituals to symbolize death and rebirth.\n\nThe festival that became the modern Day of the Dead fell in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, about the beginning of August, and was celebrated for an entire month. The festivities were dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl, known as the "Lady of the Dead", corresponding to the modern Catrina.