Cinco de Mayo on Cherokee Street Turns Five: Parade Route, Set Times, and More

The largest Cinco de Mayo celebration in St. Louis celebrates its fifth year on Saturday. As in years past, Cherokee street will have a parade, live music on two stages and art. And partly thanks to a partnership with Dos Lunas tequila, who provided the billboard you may have seen on Interstate 44, the Festival has never had more exposure. You're probably going to need to get there early if you want a decent parking spot. If you've been in years past, you pretty much know what to expect this year; the only significant change is the addition of a kid's area with small mechanical rides and the like. Parade route and set times for both stages below.

The Festival is presented by the Cherokee Station Business Association. "We want to celebrate our community, celebrate the diversity and bring new faces down to our street," says Association employee Emily Blincow. "Check out what we've got to offer down here."

There will two stages with live music; the Cinco Main Stage features traditional Latin music and the Gringo Stage (curated for the first time by the St. Louis Secret Sound Society) features an impressive lineup of local bands ranging from electronic to rock to folk.

Gringo Stage (Nebraska and Cherokee)

1:00 - 1:30 Humdrum
1:50 - 2:20 Blood Pony
2:40 - 3:10 Starfish
3:30 - 4:00 The Breaks
4:20 - 4:50 Jay Fay
5:10 - 5:40 Bo and the Locomotive
6:00 - 6:30 LaVelle Spitz
6:50 - 7:20 Nee
7:40 - 8:10 Sleepy Kitty
7:10 - 8:40 Safety Words/ Set Change
8:40 - 9:30 So Many Dynamos

Cinco Main Stage (California and Cherokee

12:00 - 1:30 Rodante Show de La Sierra
2:00 - 3:30 Boogie Chyld
4:00 - 5:30 Desesperados del Norte
6:00 - 7:30 Javier Mendoza
8:00 -9:30 Grupo Navegante

The People's Joy Parade is not financially affiliated with the Festival; it is completely community supported. This is the Parade's third year, and, as described on its web site, it will feature, "crepe paper float makers, home made costume fashionistas, b-boys/girls, midnight minstrels, Gigante puppeteers, art cars, bike brigades, moving installation artists, Elvis impersonators, cardboard bricoleurs, rainbow dancers, knights of St. Louis, drag queens, beat making marching bands, Mexican wrestlers, robot makers, Virgin of Guadalupe's, and lost members of the Missouri tribe that seeks recognize the importance of the people who make up a community." '

The parade starts at 1:11 p.m. at Minnesota and Cherokee. The route is detailed in orange.

View Cinco de Mayo St. Louis in a larger map