Cinco de Mayo Party Ideas - Its Fiesta time!

Cinco de Mayo Party Ideas get you ready to celebrate the Mexican celebration of Cinco de Mayo. The Cinco de Mayo holiday commemorates the win of a Mexican army against the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th 1862.

Although it is a Mexican holiday, mainly in the state of Puebla, it is more widely celebrated in the United States as a celebration of Mexican culture.

Similar to a Fiesta there are also many Cinco de Mayo traditions that can be used in your party:

Dancing - Ballet Folklorico, traditional Mexican dancing to Mexican inspired music such as a traditional Mariachi group.
Parades - Where the men dress as Mexican or French soldiers and women wear skirts and flowery hats to represent the soldaderos who cared for the men. At noon a pretend battle commences and the festivities last way into the night with fireworks to finish off.
Pinatas - A traditional Mexican tradition of filling colorful pinata shapes full of candies and treats.
Sombreros - A traditional Mexican hat made of straw or felt.

Some Cinco de Mayo celebrations last a whole weekend with the most popular thrown in Los Angeles which draws over 500,000 guests! But you can party with these fiesta party supplies from the USA and UK!

So put on your sombrero, shake your maracas and lets party with these Mexican party ideas!

INVITATIONS

There are many Cinco de Mayo party ideas for invitations. You could have a chili pepper shaped party invitation or maybe a sombrero or Mexican flag. The Pink Heaven Party Angels favorite invitation is the maracas invitation which can be easily made with some cheap maracas from a discount store.

Try and get some plain maracas not ones covered in pictures or patterns as you are going to decorate them yourself.

You can decorate the maracas with glitter glue pens or any paints as long as you have a thin paintbrush. You will also have to keep the wording short if you are writing it on the maracas.

If you haven't got enough room or want to just decorate the maraca in fiesta style and colors then you can write the party details on a slip of paper which can be stuck around the handle of the maraca.

If you are going to paint on the party details stick with something basic like:

"Cinco de Mayo Fiesta

(time of party)

(address)"

For the address just write the first line of the party address. If anyone doesn't know where it is just explain when you give them the invite.

If you are going to write the party details on a slip of paper write something like:

"No time for a siesta its time to fiesta so come and shake your stuff down to (address) on Cinco de Mayo at (time of party) for a fun filled fiesta!"

Then decorate the maraca in bright colours, maybe even as a Mexican flag for an authentic Cinco de Mayo party idea!

If you want to make some easy but professional looking invites then the Pink Heaven Party Angel recommends creating extraordinary free digital invitations in minutes at Smilebox.com! You can even add your own photos, video clips and music.

DECORATIONS

Every fiesta needs brightly colored Cinco de Mayo party decoration ideas:

Pick a colour scheme such as red, white and green or hot pink and orange! A chili pepper deluxe party kit is a great to add to brightly colored table wear.
Hang colored streamers outside your house, in the garden and all around the party room.
Outside have two inflatable cacti, one either side of the entrance doorway and hang up a Fiesta Foil Door Decoration.
Use chili pepper streamers and cut outs to hotten up the party room! What about some chili pepper lights to set the party alight!
Use a white tablecloth on the party table then laden with colored tableware, confetti and foods.
For a centerpiece you could use a large cactus, a Sombrero centerpiece or a vase of brightly colored flowers.
Provide plenty of maracas and Sombreros for guests. Place a small maraca by each table place and hang a sombrero on the back of each guests chair.
For Mexican party ideas hang a Mexican flag up as a back drop along with a Mexican flag banner or a Fiesta banner. You could even provide a number of smaller flags for guests or make some Mexican flag place cards.
An awesome Cinco de Mayo party ideas is to end the night with an amazing firework display in your garden.

PARTY COSTUMES

Get out your sombreros and get into the fiesta spirit with these Cinco de Mayo party ideas for fancy dress costumes.

A Mexican with a sombrero and poncho
A Latin dancer costume
Sexy Senorita complete with castanets!
A samba girl
An all singing all music playing mariachi
Or even a chili pepper or taco!

You could also paint Mexican flags on everyones cheeks with face paints or just give out some sombreros for them to wear.

FOOD AND DRINK

Food plays a large part of any fiesta so here are some traditional Cinco de Mayo party ideas for food:

Chicken fajitas
Tortillas
Salsa
Chili con queso
Corn chips
Quesadillas
Guacamole
Enchiladas
Tacos
Nachos served in a fiesta bowl
Cupcakes with green icing and a mini Mexican flag in the center
Margaritas in plastic margarita glasses
Shot glasses full of Tequila

ENTERTAINMENT

There are loads of party entertainment ideas for Cinco de Mayo that you can get everyone involved in. Try adding some of these Cinco de Mayo party ideas to your fiesta:

Pinatas - Either buy a Sombrero Pinata or a Cactus Pinata or create your own full of sweets and treats.
Limbo - If you haven't got a limbo set just use a long pole held by two adults either end. How low can you go?
Samba de Amigos - If you have the Nintendo Wii game then shake your stuff and see who can get the highest score. If you haven't got the game then take it turns to shake some maracas to different fiesta tunes.
Cinco de Mayo Crafts - Make Mexican flags, paper flowers and decorate maracas and sombreros or even get knitting some ponchos! Other ideas include making a Mexican clothes peg doll and a pinata.
Chili Pepper Relay - Get everyone into teams and see who can win a relay carrying a long red balloon or an actual chili pepper.
Make a Mariachi Band - Using trumpets, violins and guitars for a unique Mexican party idea for a game!
Jumping Beans - Like musical statues but instead of dancing to the music you have to jump around then freeze when the music stops.
Pass the Sombrero - Fill a sombrero with treats and pass around a circle of guests. When the music stops the guest holding the sombrero gets to take a treat.
Ring Toss - Play ring toss Fiesta style with a cactus ring toss game.

FAVORS

As Cinco de Mayo is a day of remembrance get everyone to remember your fiesta with some of these Cinco de Mayo party ideas for party favors:

Maracas
Sombrero
Chili pepper keyring
Personalized chocolate
Mini cactus plant
A fiesta clacker
A Mexican bandanna
Tequila shot glasses

Remember, if you can't find what you are looking for here then why not ask the Pink Heaven Party Angel, who is there to answer all your party questions. Or why not help others with their party planning problems by answering their questions!

Then once you've thrown your party let everyone know about it at YOUR parties, readers can then rate your party and give their comments. Your party could then help others searching for the perfect party idea, whilst giving your ideas the fame they deserve!

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