Countdown to
Cinco de Mayo
The Battle of Puebla, remembered each May
Today is Cinco de Mayo.
184 days until Cinco de Mayo, on Wednesday, May 5, 2027.
Cinco de Mayo is Wednesday, May 5, 2027. Happens every May 5.
Cinco de Mayo — Spanish for “the fifth of May” — commemorates a single, improbable military victory: the Mexican army’s defeat of a larger French force at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Today it is best known in the United States as a celebration of Mexican and Mexican-American culture, marked with food, music, and community festivals.
The Battle of Puebla
In 1861 a debt-strapped Mexico suspended payments to its European creditors. France, under Napoleon III, used the standoff as a pretext to invade, aiming to install a friendly monarchy on Mexican soil. On May 5, 1862, a French column advanced on the city of Puebla, east of Mexico City. The defenders, commanded by General Ignacio Zaragoza, were outnumbered and outgunned by a force widely regarded as one of the finest armies in the world. By the end of the day, the French had been repulsed.
The win did not end the war. French reinforcements returned the following year, took Puebla and then Mexico City, and briefly installed Emperor Maximilian I. But the stand at Puebla endured as a symbol of national resolve against a foreign power, and the date entered the calendar as a point of pride.
How Cinco de Mayo is observed
In Mexico, Cinco de Mayo is a comparatively low-key civic occasion. It is observed most fully in Puebla itself, where parades, military displays, and battle reenactments recall the events of 1862. Across much of the rest of the country the day passes quietly, and it is not a nationwide day off.
In the United States the date took on a life of its own. Embraced by Chicano activists in the 1960s as a point of cultural pride, and later amplified by the beverage industry, it grew into one of the country’s most visible celebrations of Mexican heritage. Cities host street festivals with mariachi bands and folklorico dancing, while families and restaurants mark the day with tacos, mole poblano — the signature dish of Puebla — and margaritas. Whatever its commercial trappings, the fifth of May still points back to a small army that held its ground one spring day in 1862.
🌮 Fun facts about Cinco de Mayo
- Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day — that milestone is celebrated on September 16, marking the 1810 revolt against Spanish rule.
- The holiday is celebrated far more widely in the United States than in Mexico, where outside the state of Puebla it draws relatively little attention.
- At the Battle of Puebla, an outnumbered Mexican force under General Ignacio Zaragoza turned back a French army then considered one of the most powerful in the world.
- The victory was short-lived: France returned the next year, captured Mexico City, and by 1864 had installed Maximilian I as emperor of Mexico.
- Much of the holiday's modern U.S. popularity was driven by 1980s beverage-industry marketing, building on Chicano civil-rights celebrations of the 1960s.
Upcoming Cinco de Mayo dates
| Date | Days away |
|---|---|
| 184 days | |
| 550 days | |
| 915 days | |
| 1,280 days | |
| 1,645 days |
How people mark Cinco de Mayo
- Battle reenactments in Puebla
- Parades and street festivals
- Mariachi and folklorico dancing
- Mexican food and margaritas
- Displaying red, white, and green
Frequently asked
What day is Cinco de Mayo?
Cinco de Mayo falls on May 5 every year. The date is fixed, so it lands on a different day of the week from year to year.
Is Cinco de Mayo Mexican Independence Day?
No. Cinco de Mayo marks the 1862 Battle of Puebla. Mexico's Independence Day is September 16, commemorating the 1810 start of its war for independence from Spain.
What does Cinco de Mayo commemorate?
It commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely victory over invading French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.
Is it a bigger holiday in the U.S. or Mexico?
It is far more widely celebrated in the United States as a celebration of Mexican-American culture. In Mexico it is a relatively minor occasion, observed most prominently in the state of Puebla.