It’s Cinco de Mayo All Weekend

“Let’s hear it for Michoacan!” boomed the announcer’s voice, setting off a round of cheers from scores of nostalgic immigrants. “How about Guerrero? Anybody here from Guerrero?”

If there were any doubts, the roll call of Mexican states at Saturday’s Cinco de Mayo festival in Centennial Regional Park put them to rest: This was a fiesta with sabor mexicano, a genuine Mexican flavor that gave thousands of immigrants a fleeting taste of home.

From the sliced cucumbers and jicama to roasted ears of corn and carne asada tacos, food stands offered the kinds of cheap eats available on almost any street in Mexico. And some of Mexico’s top popular bands served up norteno music and romantic ballads as couples danced under the hot sun.

“I miss Mexico a little bit more, seeing all this,” said Florencio Diaz, who stood in the shade of a giant inflated Budweiser can. “It’s a good feeling, to be with all these people from Mexico. It makes me feel a little less alone.”

As music blared from a stage across a large grassy field set aside for dancing, families strolled among a row of carnival rides and exhibit booths, including freak shows promising five-legged cows and giant rats.

A large crowd gathered under an arch of red, white and green balloons, drawn to the California Lottery booth by the banner: Juege Super Lotto Aqui! Play Super Lotto Here!

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) made a brief appearance and, in Spanish, invited spectators to visit or call her with their concerns.

Ricardo Manzanares, program director for Radio Exitos, 96.7 FM, which has sponsored the event for eight years, said he expected 60,000 people would attend Saturday and today.

The alcohol-free festival, one of several in the county, runs from noon to 7 tonight.

There was enough of a crowd to attract curio salesman Leo Torres, who brought a truckload of goodies all the way from Guanajuato.

“I’ve been coming for five years,” said Torres, who walked the grounds with a fistful of Mexican flags and a stack of $5 umbrellas for shielding the sun.

“It’s not too good this year,” he said. “Nobody has any money. And I paid a lot to bring this stuff across.”

Judging from the long lines at booths that offered free cups of orange juice and samples of alcohol-free beer, thrift was a priority for many who came to the free festival.

“It’s worth it,” Jessica Najera, 18, said of the long wait for a chance to win a free bag of rice by tossing a cup through a hoop. “We got two bags.”

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The pretext for what has become Southern California’s premier Latino holiday is the anniversary of a minor battle in Puebla, where a tattered troop of Mexican soldiers fought off a French invading force. In most of Mexico, the fifth of May passes with hardly a notice.

But here, schools, parks and restaurants come alive with red, white and green--the colors of Mexico.

Festivals such as the one in Centennial Regional Park draw from a fast-growing population of Latino immigrants.

Like many of those immigrants, Diaz came from Michoacan for a factory job and planned on spending a year or two.

That was 16 years ago.

“You come to know the place, and before you know it, you’re part of it,” he said.

“I’ll never go back to live in Mexico. But it’s nice to come here for a day, to be with all these companeros. It makes me think a little more of what I left behind.”