Celebrate Cinco de Mayo from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 7, at Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Rockville.
“While Cinco de Mayo this year happens to fall on a Thursday, we decided to hold it on Saturday the 7th, so more people could celebrate with us. Nothing brings more people together than good comfort food and fun,” Sandy Garcia said.
Sandy and other active members of the Rockville parish are seeking ways to help with their parish and community needs.
“This celebration is a means of bringing communities together — the town of Rockville is rich in so many ways and it has become a home to Latino families who are members of Mary of the Immaculate Conception Parish. We want people to get to know more of our culture and customs,” she said.
“If weather conditions permit, we’ll hold our celebration outdoors, where families can enjoy great food and fun activities,” Sandy said. “They will be able to decorate their own piñatas with colored tissue paper. The game loteria is Mexican bingo, but it’ll be bilingual, so don’t worry about not being able to understand Spanish. DJ-Arres will play Spanish music and also host games like musical chairs. A bounce house will keep the children entertained and having fun.”
Cinco de Mayo will feature foods with flavors from Mexico — street tacos with both chicken and steak on authentic Mexican corn tortillas, pastries like Choco flan (half chocolate cake and half custard) and tres leches cake, and traditional beverages like horchata (a sweetened rice drink), Jamaica (hibiscus tea) and pineapple.
“We hope this is a start for local and surrounding communities to get to know us, who we are as Latinos,” Sandy said. If it’s hit, we plan to make this an annual event with many more activities.”
With the onset of the pandemic, the Spanish Mass once hosted at St. Boniface Church in Cold Spring is now celebrated at 1 p.m. Sundays at Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Rockville. All are welcome at this Mass.