5 Great (Unique) Ways To Celebrate Cinco de Mayo

Today is May 4th, that means tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo! In a community that has a high number of Mexican heritage, May 5th is a big day. Many will go to their favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner, or throw on some Carlos Santana to celebrate. If you are a real go getter, in need of a unique celebratory experience, here are some real celebrations that go on around the world. Courtesy of huffingtonpost.com

1) Dress up and fight it out.

In places like Puebla and Mexico City, people re-enact the battle. Men dress as French and Mexican soldiers and generals, and women wear the clothing of the soldaderas, who not only cooked for and looked after the soldiers in wartime but also fought alongside them.

Mexican soldiers carry machetes and old gun-powder rifles while the French soldiers carry bags with wine bottles sticking out. (Because that is what you really need on a battlefield.)

Rumor has it that in some of these staged battles, actual casualties do occur, but more commonly, fruit is used as ammunition, so beware of flying food.  - A group of actors reenact the Battle of Puebla to commemorate their defeat over the French Army, in Mexico City on May 5, 2008. - AFP/Getty Images

2) Speaking of food.

Mexicans take great pride in their well-catered shindigs. Go beyond the fast-food tacos and burritos that most folks are familiar with and make yourself a Mole.

Legend has it that two non-cooking nuns from Puebla were surprised by a visitor. They used a molcajete (mortar and pestle) to grind every ingredient they could find -- including tomato, chocolate and chillies -- then simmered the concoction until it thickened to a sauce. Mole Poblano is a staple dish in Mexican cuisine, and traditionally served in Puebla on Cinco de Mayo.

3) Rock out.

If cooking is not your thing, break out the booze and start a jam session. The Mexican community on the Cayman Islands holds an annual Cinco de Mayo air-guitar competition. Evidently, aside from the date, the only thing related to Mexico and Mexican culture at the air-guitar competition is that Corona is on special. - Lisa Nadal dances with members of the Mexico International Mariachi band while they attend 'Florida - Mexico Cinco de Mayo Celebration: an Exchange of Cultures,' May 5, 2004 in Miami Beach, Florida. - Getty Images

4) Make your way to a festival.

One of the largest Cinco de Mayo festivals is in Portland, Oregon. Founded in the 1980s through a partnership with Portland's sister city of Guadalajara, Mexico, the festival is held over a long weekend. People actually travel from Guadalajara to Portland, bringing authentic Mexican mariachi music and folkloric dancing to the American local, attracting more than 300,000 people each year.

But the celebrations that take place in Denver, Colorado, at Civic Park are by far the most extensive. The festival attracts more than 350 vendors and features three stages of live entertainment and a green chilli cook-off. So do as Mexican's do and find a fiesta in your barrio.

5) Take to the skies.

The Canadians celebrate Cinco de Mayo in a very small, but extremely unique way. The Abbotsford Skydive Centre in Vancouver hosts an annual Cinco de Mayo skydiving "boogie," complete with an air show, live music and food, as well as tandem skydiving lessons.

What better way to celebrate freedom then to jump from a plane and plunge back to earth at death-defying speed.