During the Battle of Puebla in the 19th century, a Mexican army of 4,000 beat a French army of 8,000—giving rise to the annual celebration known as Cinco de Mayo. While you might have previously marked the occasion with lots of drinking and wild partying outside, Covid-19 has caused many of such parties to be replaced with socially distanced celebrations.
Need inspiration on how to do the same? Then check out these 3 ways you can safely and responsibly celebrate Cinco de Mayo from home amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
1. Make a piñata
No matter how old you are, you can’t outgrow the satisfaction of whacking up a piñata to reveal its tasty treats inside. And while you could always buy a ready-made piñata from a store, why not make your own?
Piñatas can be made from a variety of materials, but papier-mâché is one of the most popular options. Make a papier-mâché paste out of water and flour, dip newspaper strips into the flour paste and stick a few layers of them on an inflated balloon.
When the newspaper strips have dried, pop the balloon and fill the papier-mâché casing with candy. Then decorate the piñata to your heart’s content!
And finally, the grand finale: hang up your piñata, and take your best swing at it. You could even turn it into a competition, with your loved ones taking turns to see who successfully busts the piñata open. The winner will still have to share the candy though!
2. Try your hand at cooking traditional Mexican foods
What’s a Cinco de Mayo celebration without eating Mexican food? And no, we don’t mean just cracking open a jar of guacamole for eating with chips. We’re talking about a hearty Mexican food feast—with enchiladas, tacos, quesadillas and more. Mmmm.
For a challenge, you could also try your hand at cooking these dishes on your own, too. YouTube is a goldmine of Mexican cooking tutorial videos, so pick your favorite Mexican foods and start looking up their recipes!
The best part is that you’ll have complete control over the cooking process, which means being able to fill your tacos with extra beef or adding more spices. And before chowing down, don’t forget to take a couple of pics of your dishes for the ‘gram!
3. Organize an online Cinco de Mayo party
Just because you won’t be heading out for the day doesn’t mean that you can’t have a blast with your friends. Going virtual is the name of the game, and you can easily set up a Zoom call with your best amigos for an online Cinco de Mayo party!
To get everyone involved, each person could help out with planning one aspect of the party. For example, your music lover friend could be in charge of putting together a Mexican-themed playlist, while another friend draws up a list of drinking games to play.
And a big plus of holding a virtual party?
There’ll be less post-party clean-up (read: puke cleaning) to do, because everyone will be celebrating from their own homes. Phew!
Let the Cinco de Mayo celebrations go on!
Covid-19 may have put a dampener on the Cinco de Mayo festivities for the second year in a row, but don’t let that get you down! There are still many other ways of celebrating this significant occasion while social distancing, and you might just be surprised at how much fun (and tasty) they can be.
After you’ve decided how you’ll be celebrating Cinco de Mayo this year, you’ll need to get the word out. PosterMyWall offers a wide variety of Cinco de Mayo invitation templates, and you can use your favorite to create customized invites for your family and friends.
Tell your loved ones to grab their festive sombreros, and get ready to go loco!
Senior editor at PosterMyWall.
