Back when I was in college during the early 1970s, Cinco de Mayo was a big deal. We celebrated.

This year, the celebration was dead. It was probably a pandemic holdover There was no noise.

In the very early 70s, a week was spent at Adams State celebrating an educating.

It was fun and, yes, many students learned things they never knew.

Wikipedia says El Cinco de Mayo, May 5, commemorates the anniversary of Mexico’s victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.

Led by General Ignacio Zaragoza, the victory of a smaller, poorly equipped Mexican force against the larger and better-armed French army was a morale boost for the Mexicans. Zaragoza died months after the battle from an illness, and a larger French force ultimately defeated the Mexican army at the Second Battle of Puebla.

We were in Mexico one year when the boys were teens and they sat waiting for a parade — anywhere. Finally, we spotted a very sloshed celebrant dressed like an Aztec, wobbling up the steps of a nearby bar. I think he had been in a church or civic celebration.

Cinco de Mayo is actually a much bigger deal in the U.S. than in Mexico, where most people don’t celebrate the holiday. In the 1960s and 1970s, the day began closely tied with the Chicano Movement, thanks to Mexican-American activists in California. The holiday went mainstream in the United States after 1980s ad campaigns by beer importers like Modelo and Corona.

While the holiday is definitely a bigger deal in the United States, it is still celebrated in certain parts of Mexico, with larger events likely to happen in Puebla. Parades usually take place, and sometimes, there is a reenactment of the Battle of Puebla.

Mexico is the best place to be on Sept. 16, Mexican Independence Day. This fiesta-friendly holiday celebrates Mexico’s declaration of independence from Spain in 1810, and it’s filled with national pride, colorful parades, mariachi concerts, and food, food, and more traditional food.

Mexico, once known as New Spain, was a colony harshly ruled by the kingdom of Spain for more than 300 years. The native population was oppressed, farmland and personal wealth were confiscated and only Spaniards were allowed to hold political posts.

Finally, a Catholic priest in the town of Dolores named Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla had enough. On Sept. 16, 1810, he rang his church’s bell and delivered a speech now known as the Grito de Dolores (Cry of Dolores), demanding the end of Spanish rule. People of Mexican heritage all over the world commemorate this important event in their country’s history when Costilla rang his church bell and delivered a powerful speech that set the War of Independence from Spain in motion.  On Aug. 24, 1821, Spain withdrew and officially recognized Mexico as an independent country. Today, Father Costilla is known as the Father of Mexican Independence. Mexican Independence Day has been celebrated every year since that momentous day on Sept. 16, 1810. Even the President of Mexico participates by ringing that same bell — now more than 200 years old — live on TV the night before the big celebration.

I’ll see you in September.