Desiree Salazar and Victor Ruiz of Evans stood and smiled Saturday afternoon at Island Grove Regional Park, watching their kids soak in the inflatable play sets and activity center.
On one of the brightest and warmest days Greeley has seen this spring, hundreds of people flowed in and out of Island Grove, 14th Avenue and A Street, Greeley, for the Cinco De Mayo Family Fiesta.
“It is sort of played off from what it really was but everybody is enjoying it,” Ruiz said. “Fast cars, food and stuff for the kids. It used to be more about the dances and everything else and now it’s about the lowriders, but everybody is enjoying themselves.”
Salazar said her family usually attends this event every year.
“Just having fun and enjoying a wonderful day,” she said of their trip to the fiesta.
The fiesta, sponsored by the Latino Chamber of Commerce, had a lot going on inside and outside the events center.
Wall-to-wall booths offered various food items — everything from popcorn to smothered burritos or pizza — and jewelry, clothes, hats and more were all for sale. While people wandered the endless aisles of items, they were entertained by several bands and dance groups performing on the main stage.
About 100 bright, shiny — and some even glittery — cars filled the exhibition hall and spilled out into the street. Each car had something special to show. A white-and-cream 1969 Volkswagen Beetle had screens built into each door and the radio console that displayed music videos and offered sound that could rival the live bands.
Kids were not left out, as there was a petting zoo, pony rides and several inflatable play places.
Despite all of the modern takes on the holiday, one piece of tradition remained: Aztec dancers.
Two groups, the Tonantzin of Greeley and the Huitzilopochtli of Denver, dressed in traditional brightly colored dresses with beads and a feathered headdress.
The Aztec dance begins with participants asking their ancestors for permission to dance. They then begin a series of dances that have been passed through generations. They danced to drum beats and provided their own flair of percussion with handmade “bones of a tree” attached to their ankles to mimic the sounds of a river.
For the dancers, the day ended on a traditional note. They closed their day as they started it in the parade — by returning their focus to the ancestors to tell them they are done.
“We do that at the beginning to open the circle, and we do that at the end to close the circle,” dancer Delfina Franco said.
Franco said the dances combine to tell key parts of Aztec history.
“These dances are from way back when the Aztecs lived,” she said. “It’s a traditional thing. They kept on passing it down, and now we are the ones doing it.”
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