St. Louis’s Cinco de Mayo festival will return to Cherokee Street on Saturday May, 7th 2022, after two years of in-person event cancellations due to the COVID19 pandemic.
The Cinco de Mayo festival on Cherokee Street began more than 15 years ago and is now organized by Cherokee Street Foundation — the street’s events nonprofit. In 2022, organizers plan to bring back many memorable features of Cherokee Street’s annual celebrations, including three music stages, food, drink & creative vendor booths featuring Cherokee St. businesses and other partners and the Lucha Libre wrestling ring. Community members also plan to host the People’s Joy Parade, traditionally on the same day.
“We’re thrilled to be bringing the Cinco de Mayo festival back in 2022,” said John Joern, co-organizer of the festival. “We heard from so many people over the past two years who were very sad that the festival wasn’t taking place in 2020 and 2021. It showed us how much the festival really means to St. Louisans and made us all the more excited to bring it back in 2022.”
The return of the festival is also a boost for Cherokee Street’s small businesses. “In years past, the Cinco de Mayo festival signified the largest sales day of the year for many of the street’s businesses. It means a lot for our district to be able to bring the event back and continue to shore up these businesses as they recover from the pandemic,” said Emily Thenhaus, director of the Cherokee Street Community Improvement District and Cherokee Street Foundation.
As festival plans get underway, festival organizers are working closely with the City of St. Louis Office of Special Events to ensure the event is held in accordance with the City’s COVID-19 health and safety regulations.
In 2020, the festival was cancelled in March after COVID19 shutdowns were announced and organizers pivoted to host a virtual Cinco de Mayo celebration in partnership with Do314. In 2021, the street hosted Taco de Oro: Cherokee Street’s Taco Bracket throughout the month of May in lieu of the festival to drive support to the street’s restaurants and bars.
For more information on Cinco de Mayo plans for 2022, see cincodemayostl.com and follow @CincoDeMayoSTL on Instagram and Facebook.
