s La Reina of Denton’s annual Cinco de Mayo celebration, Joanna Ceja didn’t swoosh around the stage in a traditional ruffled folklorico outfit. She rocked in a coral-colored sparkly gown and strappy silver sandals with four and a half inch heels. She didn’t wear her hair in a traditional bun; she had it curled and piled on top of her head. She didn’t wear dark red lipstick; she opted for translucent pink lip gloss. So naturally she didn’t sing a Spanish song for her talent either. She belted out Carrie Underwood’s “Stand By Me.” To be honest, she didn’t even think she would do the pageant. It was, like, totally her mom’s idea.

Good idea, mom. After wowing the judges with her dynamic charisma and musical talents, Joanna, 16, was chosen as the queen of Denton’s Cinco de Mayo celebration. Held in May every year, the celebration attracts 15,000 revelers to mark the Mexican victory over the French army in the Battle of Puebla in 1862. What was once a small, city-run event has been embraced by the community and blossomed into a daylong celebration of all things Hispanic. It’s musical, it’s colorful, it’s spicy. It’s the place to be on May 2 in North Texas.

Not to be confused with Mexico’s Independence Day (Sept. 16), Cinco de Mayo celebrates a classic David and Goliath story. France, upset with Mexico for not repaying its monetary debts, attempted to seize control of the country militarily. At the Battle of Puebla, a small, poorly armed Mexican militia of 4,500 rallied behind General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin to defeat the imposing French army of 6,500.
The victory is celebrated with Cinco de Mayo fiestas not only in Mexico, but also across the United States, especially in cities with prominent Hispanic populations. In the city of Denton, just over 20 percent of its residents are Hispanic or Latino.

Joanna, a Hispanic/Valley Girl hybrid who moved from Chicago to Denton at age 4, is, like many of her Mexican American peers, “very Americanized” compared to her parents. But her Hispanic heritage is very evident at home, she says. Her dad watches his favorite soccer team Veracruz in his Mexican shirt, with a Mexican flag at his side, while her mom cooks traditional Mexican food for dinner every night. Both parents were excited for her to be a part of the Cinco de Mayo celebration so she will feel more connected to her culture.

This generational gap is a large part of what makes Denton’s Cinco de Mayo celebration so important. Parents and grandparents embrace the festival as a way to educate their increasingly culturally detached children and grandchildren. The festival is designed to unite generations of Hispanics and remind them what makes their culture, as Joanna says, so “flavorful!”

Outside the Civic Center, sizzling chorizo scents the air. Food vendors are busy preparing burritos, tamales and enchiladas. Participants in the morning’s Cinco de Mayo parade are sweaty and parched from marching through Denton in their heavy costumes, but they dig into the spicy food. Tongue-cooling refreshments like homemade horchata (sugar, cinnamon, rice milk) and agua fresca are available across the way from the red-alert, mouth-feels-like-Dante’s-Inferno chile. The first snack of the day could be roasted corn with chile powder and lime juice or perhaps a chicken quesadilla. For those favoring sweet over salty, the list goes on and on: empanadas, churros, tres leches cake and sopapillas.

“I really LOVE the food,” Joanna says dramatically. “I LOVE to eat.”

Monica Hughes, chair of the Cinco de Mayo event, is given to raving about the food too. (“All of the food is great, but the tacos are just to-die-for!”) Monica was born and raised in Denton and has been attending the festival since she was a teenager. Now she brings her own children to the party, which grows every year — with non-Hispanics attending as well. Monica’s husband isn’t Hispanic, but she thinks it is important for her children, especially her 15-year-old daughter, Adriana Lozano, to understand their culture.

On a nearby stage, dancers swing the hems of their skirts in unison, creating a kaleidoscope of brilliant colors swirling hypnotically. A quick flick of the wrist swings the skirts back in the other direction, forming figure eights of red, green, blue, purple, yellow and pink ruffles. Each hike of a dancer’s hem reveals swift feet, tapping and moving in unison with both effortless grace and distinct authority. The dancers, with their hair pulled back in flawless tight buns and their lips painted deep crimson red, smile as their partners sashay around them in rhythm with the mariachi bands. The crowd is transfixed.

During the daylong festival, the stages are never empty. As the event grows, more and more popular Latino and Tejano bands come to perform. Monica says the organizers take special care to lure entertainment for every age. “It’s our challenge every year to please the kids and adults and to find styles of music that everyone likes,” she says, noting that Tejano bands are especially popular.

“Music is my first priority in life. My passion,” Joanna says dramatically and then giggles, knowing she sounds like a cliché. She doesn’t care what it sounds like. She loves performing and she loves having the camera on her, even though she protests that she is “not photogenic at all!” She sings, dances, performs piano and plays snare drum for her high school’s marching band — which could have made it hard for her to decide what to perform for the talent competition, but she stole the show with the Underwood song. “I don’t go a day without singing,” Joanna says. “Even if I have bronchitis, I still try!” Naturally the answering machine on her cell phone features her singing, “Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring ring, Joanna’s phone!”

The contestants for La Reina vie for a sparkling crown, but the pageant is more than that: It’s about funding their future. Joanna endeared herself to judges — and nabbed $4,000 in college tuition — with her effusive, bubbly personality (“really flamboyant and outgoing” is how she puts it), which is leavened by a healthy dose of humility (“I was a really nerdy kid. I always got picked on for being fat!” Joanna laughs. “And I wore scrunchies for the longest time!”). Even La Reina can experience some harrowing moments, of course. (Well, harrowing to a teenager.) “I got my makeup done, but she put WAY too much eye shadow!” Joanna exclaims. “I was like, that is not ok!”

Guys have their own Cinco de Mayo Soccer Tournament played by local adult men’s teams. “The soccer tournament gets pretty competitive,” Monica says. “It’s exciting, and the crowd gets really into it. Soccer is a big sport in Hispanic culture, so it’s perfect for the Cinco de Mayo festival.” A low-rider car show might be added in 2009.

Inside the Denton Civic Center, the Cinco de Mayo Dance is finally winding down at 1 a.m. Latino bands have been playing for five hours, and a few couples remain on the dance floor, wanting to get the most out of this once-a-year event. Monica Hughes is packing up. She’s been at the festival since 6 a.m. and is more than a little exhausted. It is a lot of work, she says, but worth it because the festival is meaningful to each succeeding generation of Hispanics.

For Joanna, the Cinco de Mayo festival and La Reina pageant have both had a profound impact on her life. The scholarship money allows her to follow her dream of a music education degree while the festival itself has taught her about her culture — and herself. It reminds her, she says, to appreciate what differentiates her from her classmates: her Hispanic heritage. In a world where high schoolers are defined by their Facebook pages, their cell phones and their cult reality shows, it’s not an easy thing for a teenager to admit.

“Sometimes you get lost in the big melting pot of America,” Joanna says. “But it’s important to know who you are and where you came from. The festival helped me to appreciate that.”

By Jordan Bostic