South Omaha’s Cinco de Mayo festival is celebrating its 105th year this weekend. The more than a century-old celebration brings in visitors from all over the state and beyond.
The celebration, marketed as Omaha’s “largest and most diverse parade” dates back to the 1920s and has grown immensely since then. Organizers said this year’s event will be one of the biggest yet with weekend-long concerts and more food options.
Marcos Mora, the CEO of the Cinco de Mayo celebration’s host Casa de la Cultura, said the fiesta brings in millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of people to the city.
“Which kind of turns into this American thing that we do with that melting pot. I think it’s a beautiful thing,” he said. “It’s just a wonderful attribute that we see that happens during that time. And it’s also, I think it’s the American way, too, that it also kind of turns into an economic driver, because everyone’s doing a little fiesta.”
Mora said his team keeps the data on where else visitors spend their money during the weekend. It not only helps out the South Omaha businesses but brings more crowds to the Omaha zoo and the city’s other must-see attractions.
“I think it’s a wonderful attribute that really just contributes to Omaha. One is this cool festival that’s been going on for a long time. And then the other thing is just the economic impact,” he added. “It’s grown so much from the early years that it has a tremendous economic impact for South Omaha, but also Omaha in general.”
Event manager Mora and the rest of his team spent almost a year planning it. Along with more music and food, he said larger businesses have expressed interest in participating this year.
“We’ve been starting to see more mainstream entities really looking at this demographic, this market that’s going to continue to grow, which is Latinos,” he said.
It’s the first year the Omaha Community Playhouse will participate in the parade, and other businesses like Kiewit, Union Pacific and Nebraska Furniture Mart will also attend.
The three-day festival is free to attend, but the Friday and Sunday concert tickets are $10, with those 12 and under granted free entry. Since parking may be difficult, there will be a shuttle going back and forth from Metro Community College South Campus to the festival.