Ride in Style — Low-Riders at This Year's Cinco de Mayo
Chris Dieterich
For Fort Collins Now
9:41 a.m. MT Apr 29, 2008
Fort Collins has a 40-year tradition of Cinco de Mayo celebrations. Even so, a first-time event will roll—literally—into town for this weekend’s fiesta.
The Fort Collins Cinco de Mayo Fiesta will feature a lowrider car show as part of the five-day celebration, a first for the city. As many as 50 customized lowriders, hotrods, bikes and trucks will be on display at the corner of Laporte Ave. and Howes St. on Sunday morning, May 4.
To Pete Lopez, president and founder of Fort Collins’ Puro Sabor Car Club, the car show is a way to show off Mexican culture through the handiwork of dedicated gear heads.
“Lowriding started off with Mexican culture—we do it a certain way” Lopez said. “It’s a way for people to fix-up our cars and come together and show our hobbies. Everybody’s work is appreciated.”
That’s just what Cinco de Mayo is all about to organizers like Debra Bueno, who’s helped plan the festivities in Fort Collins for around 30 years. In that time she’s seen the event grow from around 50 participants to more than 10,000 last year.
“Cinco de Mayo is about connecting with our Mexican cultural heritage,” she said. “It’s about how we can strive to overcome all odds and a way to teach about Mexican culture through food and music.”
Bueno’s father was one in a small group of residents who resurrected the holiday in Fort Collins in the late 1960s, around the same time activists in the Chicano movement began to popularize May 5—the day in 1862 when a Mexican militia overpowered better-equipped French forces in the Battle of Puebla—as a day of pride among Mexican-Americans.
To Bueno, the message of perseverance in the face of difficulty makes the celebration especially meaningful, as well as transferable to people of all backgrounds.
“More than anything (Cinco de Mayo) is a way for the entire community to celebrate the culture together and break down barriers,” she said.
What better way than a car show to celebrate a universal message of unity? After all, appreciation of mechanical know-how and style can bring people together just as well as music and food.
This weekend’s car show will offer 15 different awards in 19 different events, including events for plastic-and-glue model cars and pedal cars, in addition to trucks, cars and bikes.
Most of the Cinco de Mayo events are free. Satuday’s Fiesta will take place all day in Old Town Square and Sunday’s Dia de la Familia activities (including the car show) will take place in Civic Center Park. Events will go on rain or shine.
Cinco de Mayo 2008 Schedule of Events
Thursday, May 1
• Sigma Lambda Beta fraternity presents: Zapatista: Our Word is Our Weapon, a bilingual play by Teatro Milagro. 7 p.m., CSU Lory Student Center North Ballroom. Free.
Saturday May 3
• Cinco-Cinco 5K Run/Walk in Memory of Gil Gutierrez. 8:30 a.m., CSU Oval. Call (970) 491-4847 for registration information
• Fiesta in Old Town Square — Includes music, food and dancing all day. 10 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., Old Town Square. Free.
• Grand Dance at Hodi’s Half-note — Featuring music by Los TexManiacs and Bad Habitz. Doors at 7 p.m. Dance 8 p.m. - 1:30 a.m. Tickets $15.
Sunday, May 4
• Dia de La Familia in Civic Center Park — Music, crafts, KidZone and car show. 10 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., Civic Center Park. Free.
• Puro Sabor Lowrider Car Show — 11 a.m - 5 p.m. (Registration and move-in, 7 a.m. - 10 a.m.) Call (970) 568-9609 for registration information.
Monday, May 5
• Ten-year anniversary showing of Mi Gente, a film documenting the lives of Hispanic families in Fort Collins. 7 p.m., Northside Aztlan Community Center Eagle Activity Room #3. Free.
