Cinco de Mayo events affected by swine flu worries?

Call it swine flu or H1N1, but you can also call this pesky bug a party-spoiler. Cinco de Mayo — a historical day marking Mexico’s triumph over the French in the 1862 Battle of Puebla, and a fabulous reason to guzzle margaritas — is close at hand and will be celebrated in many locations internationally this coming weekend. But swine flu fears have ruined the festive air for some.

Scheduled for Sunday, a Cinco de Mayo festival in Cumberland County, N.J., where there have reportedly been suspected cases of the virus, has been “postponed indefinitely due to concerns about its potential to spread swine flu,” according to the regional publication the Daily Journal. In North Texas, the Cinco de Mayo Celebration in Dallas was among the casualties of worry over the outbreak.

In Portland, Ore., the party will apparently go on, but organizers told the Willamette Week that signs will be going up at the event entrance to remind people of “common-sense things they can do,” like take advantage of extra hand-washing stations at the fest.

And in Los Angeles? Thankfully, the Cinco de Mayo Celebration at El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument — this weekend, with events also scheduled for May 5 — should still be going strong on Olvera Street. It will run until 10 p.m. tonight, on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 9 a.m.; click here for a flier in Spanish.

I was unable to find out whether any extra precautions would be undertaken given the flu scare, so if you’re worried, bring your own hand sanitizer. Or, some might advise you just to swill a little extra tequila.

– Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Image: Antonio González Orozco Juárez, símbolo de la República, 1972. Credit: Olvera-Street.com]

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This entry was posted on Friday, May 1, 2009 at 12:54 pm by Susan Derby and is filed under California, Festival, Healthy Traveler, Los Angeles, Mexico, News, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.