Festivals and Holidays

Festivals and holidays are important to most immigrants. They are a way for people to celebrate their cultural traditions. People eat traditional foods, hear familiar music, and display or buy handicrafts. Also, people from other cultures can come to enjoy new sights, sounds, and tastes.

Mexican Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo (May 5). This holiday marks an important victory of the Mexican Army in 1862. Many Asian Americans celebrate the Chinese New Year with special food and fireworks.

Some festivals are small. A town might close off a block for a street festival. Sometimes, these small festivals grow. They become large and well known. Sometimes, people travel long distances to go to them. For example, Boston has a Caribbean festival. It has been held every year since 1973.

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo with music and dancing

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo with music and dancing

In Other Words

  • handicrafts handmade items or crafts

  • marks celebrates

  • close off a block close part of a street

Before You Move On

  • 1. Summarize Briefly tell some of the ways that immigrants preserve their cultures in their new countries.

  • 2. Inference Tell why cultural festivals might be important to a community.