Five festive fiestas to ring in Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo is right around the corner. It’s time to drink tequila, feast on tacos and listen to mariachi music. Here are five festive ways to celebrate the Mexican holiday all weekend long. Salud!
Bottle & Barlow
May 5 Watch Mexican wrestling and chow down on tacos during this fiesta at the R Street Corridor’s hip bar and barbershop. You can taste 80-proof tequila like Ocho Añejo and Don Julio Reposado, or opt for cocktails like the Cool Runnings with mezcal, Jamaican rum and grapefruit juice, and the Rhubarbarian with blanco tequila, strawberries and cinnamon. Lucha Libre wrestling will be blaring on the bar’s flat screens and hungry fiesta-goers who are up for a challenge can compete in a taco-eating contest, during which 12 competitors will have eight minutes to eat their way to the winning spot. 8 p.m.-2 a.m. Bottle & Barlow. 1120 R St. 379-7719. bottleandbarlow.com
Cinco de Mayo Fiesta
May 5 The bars in Old Sacramento are rounding up their most festive drinks for a Cinco de Mayo celebration across 10 popular locations. Start at La Terraza on 2nd Street for carne asada tacos and cocktails like the Paloma with blue agave tequila and fresh lime juice. Watch samba dancing, mariachi bands and Ballet Folklórico, and then grab a bar crawl map and a pair of maracas from the event station at 2nd and K streets and make the rounds to other participating purveyors, like SacTown Sports Bar, where you can sip a margarita perked up with a house-made citrus blend and Patrón Reposado, or River City Saloon, which will be mixing bloody Marys topped with crunchy bacon and jalapeños. Prices and locations vary. 6 p.m.-2 a.m. 970-5226. oldsacramento.com
Cinco de Mayo at Tequilo Museo Mayahuel
May 5 On Cinco de Mayo, downtown’s “tequila museum” and Mexican restaurant will come alive with buzzy drinks and two DJs, Ivan G and Fili Sainz, who will be spinning hip-shaking Latin hits to get your feet moving on the dance floor. Don’t miss drink specials on creative tequila-based cocktails like the Así Sabe México with fresh watermelon, cucumber, lime, and tajín chile lining the rim. The vibrant concoction was created by bartender Oscar Escobar, aka the “Mexican Mixologist.” 10 p.m.-2 a.m. 1200 K St. 441-7200. experiencemayahuel.com
Farm Fresh to You Cinco de Mayo Festival
May 6 Celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the bucolic Capay Valley, during Farm Fresh to You’s sixth annual family-friendly festival, where you and the kids can harvest fresh sweet peas and strawberries from the surrounding orchards, pet goats and pigs at the Esparto 4-H petting zoo, take a tractor tour of the farm, and hit a piñata shaped like a donkey. Grab some Mexican fare from Tacos 911, warm cinnamon desserts from Puros Churros and pear sorbet from Luciano’s Scoop before settling down at the picnic grounds where local guitarist Ryan Hernandez and Americana singer Kay Marie will be performing. $15 through May 5; $20 day of (free for kids 12 and under). $35 camping fee in advance ($40 day of event). 4-10 p.m. 23800 State Hwy. 16. Capay. 800-796-6009. farmfreshtoyou.com
Fiesta en la Calle
May 7 At this annual festival, which has filled Southside Park every Cinco de Mayo for over 40 years, expect entertainment from local bands, dancers and, of course, plenty of hearty south-of-the-border fare. Musical acts include San Francisco-based Sapo fronted by Richard Bean, the original lead singer of 1970s Latin rock band Malo, which will perform hits such as “Suavecito” and “Ritmo del Corazon.” You can also sway along to Sacred Fire Band, a Santana tribute group, feel the rhythm during salsa and Aztec dance performances, browse the booths with handmade gifts like jewelry, terracotta skulls and Frida Kahlo paintings and feast on dishes like Salvadorian pupusas, asada mulitas and roasted corn. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Southside Park. 2115 6th St. 541-6302. fiestaenlacalle.com
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