A performer from Comparza San Lucas Evangelista waves a Mexican flag during St. Paul's Cinco de Mayo parade on May 3, 2025. Credit: Alberto Villafan | Sahan Journal

Forty years ago, St. Paul began officially hosting a Cinco de Mayo parade, celebrating the city’s Latin American heritage and marking a Mexican military victory back in 1862. 

While the fifth of May does not carry much significance in Mexico, the scale of St. Paul Cinco de Mayo festivities could rival a medium-sized independence day parade. 

St. Paul began celebrating Cinco de Mayo three days early, kicking off with a car show on Friday, May 2. But the real festivities started at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 3, a parade full of traditional, Indigenous and contemporary Mexican music and dance, along with lucha libre-style wrestling, food and family activities. 

Elba Castillo with Mexica Yolotl dressed in full regalia dances as she crosses the intersection of Cesar Chavez Way and Robert Street during St. Paul’s Cinco de Mayo parade on May 3, 2025. Credit: Alberto Villafan | Sahan Journal
A dancer with Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue crosses Cesar Chavez Way in St. Paul during the Cinco de Mayo parade on May 3, 2025. Credit: Alberto Villafan | Sahan Journal
“Rey” with the Latin America Motorcycle Association poses on his bike at the Cinco de Mayo parade on St. Paul’s West Side on May 3, 2025. Credit: Alberto Villafan | Sahan Journal
A dancer with the Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli crosses the street during St. Paul’s Cinco de Mayo parade on May 3, 2025. Credit: Alberto Villafan | Sahan Journal
A dancer with Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue wears ayoyotes, leggings made of dried seashells, during St. Paul’s Cinco de Mayo parade on May 3, 2025. Credit: Alberto Villafan | Sahan Journal
Gabriela Everett, a folklorico dancer with La Alegre Bailadores, performs on a float during St. Paul’s Cinco de Mayo parade on May 3, 2025. Credit: Alberto Villafan | Sahan Journal
A taqueria worker watches dancers at the Cinco de Mayo parade in Saint Paul on May 3, 2025. Credit: Alberto Villafan | Sahan Journal
A dancer with Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli blows a conch shell during St. Paul’s Cinco de Mayo parade on May 3, 2025. Credit: Alberto Villafan | Sahan Journal
Two wrestlers duke it out at Cinco Chaos” during St. Paul’s Cinco de Mayo celebration on May 3, 2025. Credit: Alberto Villafan | Sahan Journal
Two dancers with La Alegre Bailadores look out during St. Paul’s Cinco de Mayo parade on May 3, 2025. Credit: Alberto Villafan | Sahan Journal

Festivities wrap up in St. Paul on Saturday, but continue in Minneapolis through this week.

Cinco de Mayo Fiesta y Mercadito

Date: May 5, 2025

Time: 1.-6 p.m.

Location: North House, 718 N. Washington Ave., Minneapolis

Cost: Free

Cinco de Mayo on Lake Street

Date: May 11, 2025

Time: 10 a.m.

Location: 207 E. Lake St., Minneapolis

Cost: Free

For more Cinco de Mayo celebrations in Minneapolis, click here. 

Alberto Villafan is the digital producer at Sahan Journal. He joined Sahan Journal in May 2024. Alberto graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2023 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and cultural...