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CINCO DE MAYO PARADE AND FESTIVAL 2009
 The Oakland, CA, Fruitvale district’s Cinco de Mayo event has been a festive family event for over 20years! Over the last several years, it has been sponsored primarily by the Asociacion de Comerciantes y Profesionales de Oakland (ACPO). The purpose is to raise funds for youth programs and scholarships in the Fruitvale. It has been a safe and incident-free celebration of the battle of Puebla by a small regime of soldiers over the French army. The event is held to coincide with the general market’s commercial celebration of Cinco de Mayo. In Latin America it is not a major holiday.
The tradition to hold a culturally relevant event for the district’s 60,000 plus residents and for the entire Latino and general population in the Bay Area is a community priority! To this end, ACPO along with city officials have judiciously evaluated the a decision to move the celebration to a more viable date that makes good business sense and cultural sense- Fiestas Patrias (16th of September). This holiday is truly a major event in Mexico and in several other Latin American countries. It celebrates and honors their independence days. For several reasons we are excited about the opportunity to continue the event in the same vane on a day that will attract more of an audience with pride and purpose. It is a win-win decision that will:
- Celebrate a true Latino Holiday that can be shared with the general market
- Allow for the economic and social climate in Oakland to stabilize
- Create more lead time to fundraise for the non-profit organization
- Forge the opportunity to publicize and draw a larger audience and greater vendor participation
- Educate and be able to more widely share the historical importance of the holiday
- Ensure a safer festival where we can more efficiently and economically enforce our non-alcohol policies in a family-friendly environment.
The framework and the elements of the event will remain the same, with a parade, music and outdoor festival activities. Our desire is to provide a high quality event that meets the needs of the community, city agencies and sponsors. The funds will continue to be applied to youth programs.
Please mark your calendars for September 13, 2009. We look forward to your participation and continued and renewed support. If you have any questions or wish further information, please call our event coordinator, Claudia Briones at 510-536-6084 or e-mail us at
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Sincerely
Ramon Jimenez
ACPO President
| Hugo Guerrero
ACPO Event Chair
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