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2-Day Cinco de Mayo Festival: There will be no shortage of Mexican food, drinks and entertainment when the Mezcal Mexican Bar & Kitchen presents its second Cinco de Mayo Festival in Ferndale.
Thousands of people are expected for the restaurant’s event when it returns for May 4-5 on East Nine Mile Road between Woodward Avenue and Bermuda.
“I’d say there were close to 10,000 people who showed up at last year’s” festival, said Michael Lary, Ferndale’s special events director. “The fire department had to stop letting people in at one point because there were already so many people.”
The footprint for the festival is being expanded this year to include the Ferndale Public Library parking lot.
Admission is free and the event will offer food trucks serving up authentic Mexican cuisine, live music, dance performances, DJs, and Lucha Libre wrestling matches.
2-Day Cinco de Mayo Festival:
There will be a children’s zone with inflatables, a mechanical bull and otter attractions.
Sandra Haro and her brother, Jose Granados, opened their Mezcal Mexican Bar & Kitchen at 201 E. Nine Mile Road in Ferndale about two years ago, and a second location in Midtown Detroit opened about nine months ago.
Mexican ballet and other Latin dances are part of the attractions at the festival. (Mezcal Mexican Bar & Kitchen photo)
Haro said there was a great response to the festival in Ferndale last year when it started.
She and her family grew up in Mexico.
“My parents had a little restaurant in Mexico,” Haro said. “We grew up there and came here (to the U.S.) when I was 10 years old.”
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She, along with her husband, children, and her brother go back to Mexico twice a year.
Haro said she enjoys attending the Cinco de Mayo festival in Ferndale, which also has two bar tents offering a selection of beer, cocktails and non-alcoholic options. Margaritas are typically the best-selling drinks.
“I love being there because I see how people enjoy our culture, whether it’s dancing to our music or watching the dancers and other things,” she said. “That is really nice to see.”
Haro said her parents are in the U.S. and “supporting us in any way they can.”
Cinco de Mayo, or the 5th of May, is a holiday that celebrates the Mexican army’s May 5, 1862 victory over France at the battle of the Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War.
In the U.S. Cinco de Mayo has become a holiday that commemorates Mexican heritage and culture, especially in areas with large populations of Mexican Americans.
“We’ll have our own Mezcal food truck” along with others at the event, Haro said. “There will also be Mariachi bands.”
Mezcal’s food truck will serve up a variety of the restaurant’s tacos.
The main stage for the festival is set up on East Nine Mile Road, east of Woodward Avenue. )Mezcal Mexican Bar & Kitchen photo)
During the festival vendors will be selling traditional Mexican clothing, jewelry, accessories and other items.
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Michigan-based businesses such as Frick’n Good Cookies, and Happy Camper Ice cream will be selling desserts.
A popular attraction from last year’s festival is returning this year – Lucha Libre wrestling matches offered by Pure Pro Wrestling. The company is Michigan’s only touring brand of pro wrestling.
The main music stage will be set up E. Nine Mile Road near Woodward Avenue. Besides Mariachi and Latin bands, singer Adel Ruelas will perform. Musicians in the Trabuco y Son Orquesta will play a mix of salsa, son, merengue, cumbia and bolero, and there will be Mexican ballet performances.
The festival is from noon to 11 p.m. Saturday, May 4 and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, May 5.