Cinco de Mayo festival set for Old Town
Friday, April 27, 2007
A Grammy winner and a White House favorite are among the performers slated for Lewisville’s fifth annual Cinco de Mayo festival on Saturday, May 5, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Whatley Street between Mill and Kealy in Old Town.
Organized by Dallas Tortilla and Tamale Factory and sponsored by the City of Lewisville, the event will include music, food, arts and crafts, a car show, boxing exhibitions and more. But the entertainment highlights include performances by Ollimpaxqui Ballet, Havana NRG and Grupo Sueno.
Ollimpaxqui Ballet has performed at many venues around the country, including at the White House for President George W. Bush. Mexicanisimo Mariachis is billed as the best mariachi band in Dallas and will perform in conjunction with Ollimpaxqui.
“We are lucky to have this incredible dance troupe and equally lucky we got them for Cinco de Mayo before the President and Mrs. Bush did,” said event chairwoman Rebecca Behnke. “Ollimpaxqui has been invited to the White House twice this year and will perform with the best singers and mariachis from around the nation.”
Latin Grammy winners Havana NRG is a part performer at the Sounds of Lewisville concert series and will return to Lewisville on May 5 with its signature salsa and meringue arrangements.
Grupo Sueno, a rising star in the Tejano scene who performed at this year’s annual Tejano Awards in San Antonio. Houston-based Spanish rock band Voodoo Café will make its first Lewisville appearance, opening for Grupo Sueno.
Local performers will include the Lewisville High School Latino Club Dance group, Dallas Aztec Dancers.
Although there is no admission to the event, visitors are asked to make a donation of at least $1 to the Cinco De Mayo Scholarship Fund or canned food and household paper goods for Christian Community Action. Festival organizers hope to raise enough money to present at least two $500 college scholarships to Lewisville ISD students of Mexican descent. Five such scholarships have been awarded during the past three years.
Cinco de Mayo is a commemoration of the Battle of Puebla, which was fought on May 5, 1862. On that day, an army of 4,000 Mexican nationalists defeated a French-commanded army of more than 8,000 men. That victory launched a campaign that eventually drove the French out of Mexico and restored Mexican independence.
For event information, please call (972) 436-4333 or visit www.cityoflewisville.com.
Media contact: Festival Chairwoman Rebecca Behnke, (972) 436-4333
