Downtown Santa Ana Says Adios to Festivities

SANTA ANA — Although Cinco de Mayo will be celebrated across Orange County today, there will be no mariachis playing in the heart of the county’s largest Mexican American population--downtown Santa Ana.

For the third consecutive year, civic and business leaders are overlooking the festive event in favor of two other holidays deemed more important to Mexican Americans. Cinco de Mayo, actually a minor holiday in Mexico, lost out in downtown Santa Ana to parties honoring Mother’s Day and Mexican independence day.

“After talking to a lot of my customers from Mexico, they would tell me that [Cinco de Mayo] is not a big thing in Mexico,” said Teresa Saldivar, owner of Teresa’s Jewelers in downtown Santa Ana and vice president of the Santa Ana Business Assn.

“My customers would ask, ‘What is this? It is only celebrated in Puebla, Mexico.’ We definitely would take Mother’s Day [over Cinco de Mayo] because we are reaching a larger population.”

But in other parts of the county, Cinco de Mayo revelry will be as joyous and vibrant as ever. This weekend, for the eighth year in a row, the county’s oldest radio station, KWIZ-AM (1480), marks the occasion with carnival rides, live entertainment and arts and crafts booths at Centennial Park in Santa Ana. The alcohol-free event is expected to draw 65,000.

Meanwhile, in Orange, Chapman University is putting on a holiday-themed concert, and in Anaheim, La Palma Park hosts a soccer tournament and Sunday morning Mass. Also, in Yorba Linda, the Main Street Restaurant is planning a burrito-eating contest, a classic hot rod car show and live music.

“We get a really good cross-section of people for Cinco de Mayo,” said Andy Mars, vice president and general manager of KWIZ radio. “A lot of Anglos don’t know the significance of Mexican independence day, but on Cinco de Mayo we get a nice community atmosphere.”

Cinco de Mayo commemorates the 1862 defeat of the French military by a poorly equipped Mexican army of only 2,000 troops in the city of Puebla.

In the 1920s and ‘30s, Mexican Americans in the U.S., eager to find a date to celebrate their heritage, selected Cinco de Mayo as a symbolic holiday, according to Chapman University professor Luis Ortiz-Franco.

Rather than choosing Mexican independence day, which for many Mexican Americans born in this country is not as significant as July 4, a day commemorating a battle when the underdog was victorious seemed ideal, Ortiz-Franco said.

“It is a cultural expression rather than an expression of historical meaning,” he said. “It is one way for people to say I am proud of being Mexican.”

But for downtown Santa Ana this year, the disappearance of a Cinco de Mayo party will mean the appearance of a big Mother’s Day celebration. The event, scheduled for Friday, will include food, music, a raffle and gift giveaways, and a special tribute to grandmothers.

“Mother’s Day is more universal,” Saldivar said. “All of our energy is going into the Mother’s Day celebration.”

Roger Kooi, the city’s downtown development manager, said economics also contributed to the decision to pull the plug on the Cinco de Mayo plans. City and business organizers could only choose two dates for major citywide festivals.

“The basic reason is the . . . astronomical costs of putting a festival on,” said Kooi, who estimated that a two-day celebration where downtown area streets are blocked off could cost up to $100,000. For the September independence day event, the city is planning a two-day celebration, closing off nearly four blocks of the downtown area on Sept. 14 and 15 to honor the independence days of several Latin American nations, including Mexico.

“From what I am told from honest-to-goodness Latinos, [Cinco de Mayo] is not a real important holiday. I have to listen to them--I am an Anglo from Michigan,” Kooi said.

Santa Ana’s population is 65% Latino, according to the 1990 census, with the majority of Mexican origin.

Raymond Rangel, a downtown Santa Ana merchant since 1947 and owner of R R Sportsware, said that although it is not a holiday of national significance in Mexico, it nevertheless is fun to celebrate.

“The trouble with the downtown area is that money is tight right now,” said Rangel, a member of the business association.

“The 16th of September [celebration] is going to be put on by the downtown association. Years ago our sales were up, and we wouldn’t mind spending the money. Now it is really hard. If we could it would be nice [to celebrate Cinco de Mayo]. It is a good celebration, a good time to eat and drink.”

Saldivar, of Teresa’s Jewelers, added that she intends to celebrate the military defeat of the French like many others in the county.

“I do celebrate Cinco de Mayo--at El Torito restaurant,” Saldivar said. “I go and I have my margarita.”