SOUTH GATE : Azalea Festival Won’t Move to May

Mariachis won’t be competing with azaleas after all.

The City Council has unanimously decided against moving the 30-year-old Azalea Festival from March to May and making it part of a Cinco de Mayo celebration.

In fact, the council has scrapped plans altogether for a city-sponsored Cinco de Mayo celebration, bowing to concerns it would shortchange other ethnic groups in the city.

“We’re very happy with the council’s decision to keep our festival,” said Mildred Ward, 75, this year’s Azalea Queen. “I love mariachis and Spanish stuff, but I don’t think it should rob the city of our traditions.”

The festival--azalea is the city’s official flower--honors women over 60 and includes the selection of a queen and her court.

In July, the council discussed organizing a Cinco de Mayo festival to recognize the city’s predominantly Latino population.

In October, city staff members recommended incorporating the festival into a celebration of Cinco de Mayo, which commemorates the anniversary of the Mexican victory over the French in the city of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

Although Cinco de Mayo is hardly celebrated in Mexico, it is an important holiday for Americans of Mexican descent.

Objections to the move were raised by Azalea Festival supporters and some who charged that the council was being partial to Mexican events at the expense of the city’s other ethnic groups, such as Salvadorans and Guatemalans.

The city already holds a carnival on Sept. 16, Mexican independence day.

“I think this decision means the council is becoming more sensitive to the entire community, and not just to Mexicans,” said Victorio Gutierrez, a teacher at South Gate High School who opposed the Cinco de Mayo celebration.

The council also agreed to allocate $5,000 toward the Azalea Festival organizing committee.