Photos: Cinco Ocho de Mayo on Cherokee Street

By Keegan Hamilton Mon., May 10 2010 at 10:14 AM

Categories: Community

photo by Keegan Hamilton

How great was the Ocho de Mayo parade down Cherokee Street on Saturday?

"That was pretty much the greatest thing to ever happen in America," one sombrero-toting hombre was overheard saying a few minutes after the madness stopped.

While that might be mildly overstating things, it was certainly a good time for all involved and, more importantly, an extremely colorful representation of the neighborhood's multi-cultural and artistic renaissance.

photo by Keegan Hamilton

From art gallery floats with men in latex gloves and grotesque paper mache heads playing synthesizers to decked-out girls from St. Cecilia's church performing traditional Mexican dances to a plant-toting posse from the newly-formed Cherokee Real community garden to rival, engine-revving moped and scooter gangs to the Roosevelt High School marching band -- there was something for everyone and then some.

photo by Keegan Hamilton

The scene on the streets was equally entertaining -- drunken gringos stirred their piña coladas with tiny Mexican flags, serious Hispanic men posted up in front of storefronts showing off their belt buckles and cowboy boots, artists painting and printmaking and most everyone dancing to local bands or the salsa and reggaeton booming from the speakers on the main stage.

Oh, and there was also tons of delicious food. Like steak tacos: