Days Until Cinco de Mayo

About Cinco de Mayo

May 5 commemorates the Mexican army's victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862 — a genuinely smaller and more regional observance within Mexico itself (it is not Mexico's independence day, which is September 16) than its prominence in the United States might suggest.

The holiday's much larger celebration profile in the US grew significantly from the mid-20th century onward, particularly through Mexican-American community celebrations and later broader commercial marketing.

Mexico's actual independence day, September 16, sits over four months later on the calendar — a common enough mix-up that it's worth stating plainly here rather than assuming the connection.

Puebla, the Mexican city where the 1862 battle actually took place, holds the most elaborate official commemorations within Mexico itself, in contrast to the holiday's much broader, more commercialized profile in the United States.