Rounding the corner of L Street onto 24th Street, the music was the first thing to hit me. My family and I got to the festival during a calmer pocket of time on Saturday. The parade had ended, and some of the traffic had thinned out. A band was playing on a stage situated on the outskirts of the packed crowds on 24th Street. Several couples were arm in arm, dancing. Other spectators watched, some from the shade of whatever tree they could find, trying to escape the midday sun.
Once we stepped inside the festival gates, our first priority was food, of which there were plenty of options. We ended up with elotes, mango con chile, vegetarian pupusas, plus aguas frescas and helados to help combat the heat.
Next, we started the stroll down 24th Street. The streets were alive with culture. We stopped to enjoy the sounds of a mariachi band playing in the middle of the crowd. Vendors were selling food, drinks, sweets, jewelry, hats, pop culture toys, clothes, and other wares. They lined both sides of the street, and for a moment—with the hot sun beating down on you—you might just forget you’re in Omaha and feel transported to a street in Mexico.
The historic roots of Cinco de Mayo can be traced back to the Battle of Puebla in 1862. It’s a story of Mexican resistance and unity, after a small Mexican army successfully defeated a sizable French army. While the victory is still recognized in the town of Puebla, Mexico, the purpose of the annual celebration has transitioned to a broader cultural celebration in other parts of Mexico and in the United States, with the David and Goliath storyline still resonating today.
Mexican Omahans have been celebrating their culture here for 105 years and counting. I interviewed Marcos Mora, CEO and Executive Director of the festival, who explained that the first event was documented in 1920 by the Omaha World Herald. He said Cinco de Mayo is a time to empower local families and businesses and foster tourism, cultural awareness, and community.
“People of color have always had this struggle, and we want to show our cultural pride,” Marcos explained. “Because of some of the things that we’ve faced throughout history, it was a way for us to really stand up and fight for our rights and share our culture.”
Over the years, it’s grown into a top event drawing tourism to Nebraska. It’s a time to come together to empower local families and businesses while fostering cultural awareness and community.
“The colors are so vibrant, and that just always sets a great attraction for families and kids and people to see,” he said. “You’re going to get different music, different food, different types of costumes; it’s just a really cool family cultural experience.
“Everyone comes for something different.”
While the Cinco de Mayo festival historically drew a predominantly Latino crowd and remains rooted in Mexican culture, the audience has grown increasingly diverse over the years. Marcos said the event began as a much smaller gathering, but started to evolve in the 1990s alongside the surge in Nebraska’s Latino population. By the 2000s it had taken off, becoming a more organized and expansive effort.
“I was a college student and I sat on the committee back in 1997, and at that time our budget for the whole festival was $1,000. Now our budget is like half a million,” he said.
The event now features Omaha’s biggest parade, a production that stretches over a two-mile area. Awards are presented to the Best Float (El Alma de la Fiesta), Best Car (El Más Chingón), Best Entertainment (Estrella del Espectáculo), and Most Extravagant Display (El Más Extravagante).
Marcos says the parade alone brings in about 30,000 spectators, and by the end of the three-day festival, an estimated 100,000 visitors walked the streets—but the biggest draw for the festival centers around the music.
“This year we’re having three stages,” Marcos said. “We put a lot of money into the concerts. How we grew is because of the concerts. Now we’re considered one of the top three Cinco de Mayos in the country. People are traveling from all over. We’ve even met families who said they drove in two vans from Oklahoma, so we’re really on the map. It’s a great tourism event for Omaha and Nebraska.”
Marcos said the economic and cultural impact of the event on South Omaha and the city at large is substantial.
He added visitors help boost the local economy by staying in hotels, spending time at other Omaha attractions like the zoo and museums, and supporting local businesses.
It’s a great gig for festival vendors, too.
“A lot of people make big money—this is like our College World Series,” Marcos said. “One booth can bring in $20,000 over the whole weekend. The economic impact is in the millions.”
Despite today’s social and political climate, this year’s festival felt as vibrant and crowded as previous years. I asked Marcos why he feels it’s important to celebrate and preserve cultural traditions like Cinco de Mayo.
“It’s important because there’s a misconception that immigrants and people of color are draining the economy, taking from it, where this is a perfect example to show how it’s contributing to the fabric of American culture and the economy,” he explained. “It’s generating and bringing positive economic impact to the state of Nebraska.”
Marcos added that while Nebraska may be viewed as a conservative, predominantly white state, the Latino population is growing and the state is becoming more diverse.
According to UNO’s Office of Latino/Latin American Studies, the Latino population represented more than half of Nebraska’s total population growth between 1980 and 2020. As of 2022, Latinos comprised about 12% of Nebraska’s population. By 2050, projections suggest that one in four Nebraskans will be of Latino descent—a vital and growing demographic helping to shape the state’s future.
“It’s 105 years of Mexican festivals, and I think it’s just remarkable. When you look at this historical event, it’s very significant because normally people of color have always been left out of historical context when we’ve always been here.”
Marcos urges people to visit uslatinoheritage.com, which details the history and contributions Latinos have made in the US across sports, music, festivals, and more.
As far as what the future holds, Cinco de Mayo organizers plan to continue modeling after larger cities by drawing in big musical acts to elevate the festival into a premier cultural destination.
In addition to the May celebration, the group also plans a separate festival in September to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month—featuring an even more diverse celebration of Latino cultures with music, food, dance, and traditions rooted in places like Guatemala, El Salvador, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.