The two-day Cinco de Mayo festival in Ferndale is hosted by Mezcal Mexican Bar & Kitchen and runs from May 4th to 5th. The first festival, held last year on East Nine Mile Road, drew several thousand people. (Mezcal Mexican Bar & Kitchen Photo)
There's no shortage of Mexican food, drinks and entertainment when Mezcal Mexican Bar & Kitchen hosts its second annual Cinco de Mayo Festival in Ferndale.
Thousands of people are expected to attend the restaurant's events when it reopens May 4-5 on East Nine Mile Road between Woodward Avenue and Bermuda.
“I think we had close to 10,000 people at last year's festival,” said Michael Lally, Ferndale's special events director. “The fire department had to stop letting people in at one point because there were already so many people.”
This year, the festival has expanded to include the Ferndale Public Library parking lot.
Admission is free and the event will feature food trucks serving authentic Mexican cuisine, live music, dance performances, a DJ, Lucha Libre wrestling matches, and more.
There is a children's zone with inflatables, mechanical bulls and otter attractions.
Sandra Haro and her brother Jose Granados opened Mezcal Mexican Bar & Kitchen at 201 E. Nine Mile Road in Ferndale about two years ago, with a second location in Midtown Detroit about nine months ago. It opened before.
Haro said there was a huge response when the festival started in Ferndale last year.
She and her family grew up in Mexico.
“My parents owned a small restaurant in Mexico,” Haro said. “We grew up there and came here (the United States) when we were 10 years old.”
She returns to Mexico twice a year with her husband, children, and brother.
Haro said she enjoys attending Ferndale's Cinco de Mayo Festival. The festival will feature two bar tents offering beer, cocktails and non-alcoholic options. Margaritas are usually the best-selling drink.
“I love being there because I get to see how people enjoy our culture, dancing to our music and watching the dancers and everything.” she said. “That makes me really happy.”
Haro said her parents are in the United States and are “supporting us in any way they can.”
Cinco de Mayo (May 5) is a holiday celebrating the Mexican army's victory over France on May 5, 1862 at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War.
In the United States, especially in areas with large Mexican-American populations, Cinco de Mayo is a holiday commemorating Mexican heritage and culture.
“We're going to have our own mezcal food truck,” said Haro, along with other participants at the event. “There will also be a mariachi band.”
Mezcal's food truck will serve the restaurant's variety of tacos.
During the festival, vendors will sell traditional Mexican clothing, jewelry, accessories, and other items.
Michigan-based companies such as Frick'n Good Cookies and Happy Camper Ice Cream will sell desserts.
Popular attractions from last year's festival are returning this year. This is a Lucha Libre Wrestling match by Pure Pro Wrestling. The company is Michigan's only professional wrestling touring brand.
The main music stage will be located on East Nine Mile Road near Woodward Avenue. In addition to mariachi and Latin bands, singer Adele Ruelas will also perform. Musicians from the Trabuco y Son Orquesta will perform a combination of salsa, son, merengue, cumbia and bolero, and there will also be Mexican ballet performances.
The festival will be held on Saturday, May 4th from noon to 11pm and Sunday, May 5th from 11am to 8pm.
