Cinco de Mayo Celebration
Tourism Star Award Recipient — 2001
In 1988, NEWSED produced Denver’s first Cinco de Mayo – Celebrate Culture Festival along Santa Fe Boulevard to showcase Mexican heritage and the economic turnaround of the neighborhood. No one could have predicted the success this festival would enjoy. By 1995, the festival had outgrown its neighborhood location and was moved a few blocks to Denver’s Civic Center Park. .
Today, it has grown to become the largest outdoor Cinco de Mayo Celebration in the United States, attracting a two-day attendance of 450,000 people. It is ranked as one of the top three celebrations in Colorado and has become a major tourism event drawing visitors from throughout the state, the region and the world. .
Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of freedom and culture. It commemorates the victory of a heroic people in their struggle for freedom. It is also one of Denver’s most colorful and popular festivals that has enriched the cultural diversity of the city.
The profile of each Tourism Star is reflective of the time of the award.