Great Cinco de Mayo Party Plans

Throwing a great party for Cinco de Mayo requires only a few elements – fun and food.  If you can get these two things into play then the people will come (and will be glad that they did).  With just a little time and energy you will be able to plan the perfect Cinco de Mayo party for you and your friends.

Most adults are simply kids at heart.  They like good, fun party games as much as the next person.  Take a few of the children’s party games that you all grew up playing and give them a twist that will make them a bit more grown up and more directed towards Cinco de Mayo. 

Have a treasure hunt – with five being the theme.  Make clues that are related to the holiday and the history that it holds.  Get a nice gift basket filled with five different items that will go to the first person who discovers the treasure.

Play the safety pin game.  Give a safety pin to everyone when they arrive.  If they hear someone say the words five or Cinco then they can claim that person’s pin (or pins if that person has accumulated more).  The person at the end of the party wins a prize (that goes along with the five theme of course).

Games won’t keep them occupied the whole time.  Food is important to the success of any social gathering.  Be sure to include all the traditional American-Mexican foods – tacos, tortillas, avocados and nachos.  It would also be a good idea to include some more authentic Mexican food, but try to keep the dishes limited to things that can be easily eaten while people are walking around mingling (unless you are planning a full, sit-down dinner).

A fun and different idea for your Cinco de Mayo party is to have dance lessons.  You could chose Mexican folk dancing (be sure to have some inexpensive skirts and hats for the participants to wear) or go with a more modern Latin styled dance like the cha-cha or merengue (which is actually a fun and fairly easy dance to master) to give your dance time a bit more zing.  It would also be nice if the instructors could put on a little show for you and the guests.  Be sure that there is plenty of room in the space you are having the party if you are planning to make dancing an important aspect of the party.

Throwing a great Cinco de Mayo party is just like throwing a great party any time of the year.  You need to take time to plan the gathering, be sure there is plenty of food, and arrange entertainment for the guests in one form or another.