Jesus Ortiz welcomed everyone to the 35th Annual Cinco de Mayo celebration held in Monterey Park on May 7th. We share our food and culture with all of you. He addressed the audience in both English and Spanish.

The park was filled with the aroma of delicious Mexican food and the music of Mexico.

Esperanza Flores welcomed the guests to this special day, Cinco de Mayo. She has taught folk dancing for 40 years and her students will be dancing for you today. Each dance is performed in honor of the five states in Mexico. She is happy to be part of this celebration.

Aztec dancers opened the performance. The drums are important in their culture.

These colorfully dressed dancers performed the Rumba, a traditional Spanish dance.

These young ladies danced to the “Happy Birthday” song.

A cowboy joined in the fun as the dancers twirled around the stage.

The dancers performed in colorful yellow, red and flowered dresses.

These dancers performed a traditional Columbian folk dance.

Hats and green aprons were part of the traditional dress for this folk dance.

These dancers performed holding riding crops as part of this traditional folk dance.

A cowboy joined in this dance with several young ladies.

Another lucky cowboy dressed in black and white joined his colorfully dressed partners on the stage.

A young girl and a young boy performed a traditional “Hat Dance” as part of the celebration.

These dancers performed the traditional “La Negra” dance as their last performance.

Esperanza Flores thanked everyone and asked God to bless us.

Jesus Ortiz thanked the donors, sponsors and staff for this special event.

Assemblymember Ed Chau, Mayor Teresa Real Sebastian, Mayor Pro Tem Stephen Lam, Councilmember Peter Chan, Councilmember Hans Liang, Councilmember Mitch Ing, City Clerk Vince Chang and Adriana Argaiz from the Mexican Consulate joined the audience to celebrate this special day.

Assemblymember Chau thanked the city and organizers for this event. When he served on the Montebello School Board the students were 71% Hispanic so he learn about their culture from them.  He presented proclamations of appreciation to the city and the committee in honor of the day.

Mayor Real Sebastian thanked everyone for joining us in the city of Monterey Park. This community is full of history and culture. She addressed the audience in both English and Spanish. She gave a brief history of Cinco de Mayo when a brave Mexican army defeated the French army in Spanish. This battle began Mexico’s fight for independence.

Mayor Pro Tem Lam greeted the audience in Spanish and English. He joked that he is a Chinese-Mexican American. We celebrate all of the major cultures in Monterey Park. We make it happen. Have fun!

Councilmember Chan wished everyone a Happy Cinco de Mayo! It is great that the weather is holding up since a rainstorm was expected this afternoon. He spoke about the Chinese Exclusion Act that Congress passed 135 years ago that excluded people of Chinese heritage from participating in the American dream.  The City Council declared May 6, 2017, Day of Inclusion on the 135th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act in recognition of the harm caused by racially discriminating immigration measures and honors the contributions of all immigrants and refugees who have enriched our communities. We celebrate the Chinese culture too. He thanked the sponsors and donors. Keep the hopes high! Enjoy!

Councilmember Liang welcomed the guests to Monterey Park. It is always a pleasure to join in these celebrations. We support each other’s cultures. He gave a brief history of Cinco de Mayo in English. He praised the proud spirit of Mexico. Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Councilmember Ing welcomed the audience to our 35th celebration of Cinco de Mayo. We celebrate all of the cultural richness in Monterey Park. He remembered that some historians said Mexico was busy fighting the French for independence so they could not afford to send funds to support the South in the Civil War.  The fight in Mexico was fought just before the Battle of Gettysburg. They claimed that is why the South lost the Civil War in the United States.

City Clerk Chang welcomed all to Monterey Park in both English and Spanish. He thanked the committee members for this event. It is very important to celebrate our cultural diversity. It is very important to celebrate our wonderful cultures in Monterey Park. Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Ms. Argaiz from the Mexican Consulate addressed the guests in both Spanish and English. She thanked the city of Monterey Park for this celebration. It is very busy weekend for them.

The audience joined with the elected officials for our National Anthem.

The audience joined with the elected officials as Martin Delgadillo sang the National Anthem of Mexico.

Lupita Infante sang several songs in Spanish to the delight of the audience.

Jesus and Felicity danced to the beat of Lupita’s songs.  The crowd clapped during their performances.

Roger Del Norte sang several songs in Spanish. He is a longtime friend of Lupita Infante.

Beatriz Perez sang to the guests as part of the program.

Miss Taiwan World Irene Yo and Miss Taiwan Teen International Sheryl Chang joined the party. They presented scrolls to Mayor Teresa Real Sebastian, Gloria Enriquez, Victoria Chavez and Jesus Ortiz.

Members of Grupo Musical La Iiusion performed several musical numbers. Several guests danced to the beat. Tristan and Felicity joined them on the dance floor.

Joanie and Tony won the dance contest just as it started to rain on the event.

Isaiah Yanez was the winner of the “Money Hat” presented to him by Victoria Chavez.

Several guests braved the rain to hear if they held the lucky tickets to win the many door prizes.  All of the funds raised will be spent on next year’s Cinco de Mayo.