Cinco de Mayo is this Sunday, May 5th. It commemorates the Mexican army’s victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Hosting a bookish Cinco de Mayo party can be a fun way to celebrate Mexican culture as well as Latino literature. Here’s a guide on how to host such an event:
Invitations:
- Choose a Theme: Decide on the overall theme for your invitations. Consider combining elements of Cinco de Mayo celebrations with bookish motifs.
- You can design the invites to look like book covers or incorporate Mexican motifs and colors.
- You can find free or paid clip-art and illustrations online.
- For physical invitations, use cardstock or paper in colors that reflect the vibrant spirit of Cinco de Mayo, such as red, green, yellow, and blue.
- For digital invitations, you can use design software like Canva or Adobe Express to create custom designs.
- Include details such as date, time, location, and any special instructions (e.g., bringing a favorite book to exchange).
- Write a catchy headline that reflects the bookish Cinco de Mayo theme, such as “¡Viva los Libros! Join us for a Bookish Cinco de Mayo Fiesta.”
- Provide any additional instructions, such as bringing a favorite book for a book exchange or dressing in book-themed attire.
- You can design the invites to look like book covers or incorporate Mexican motifs and colors.
Decorations:
- Set the Scene: Create a festive atmosphere with colorful decorations that reflect the spirit of Cinco de Mayo.
- Use vibrant colors such as red, green, yellow, and blue, reminiscent of traditional Mexican fiestas.
- Hang papel picado (decorative paper banners) around the party area for a festive touch.
- Incorporate bookish elements like book stacks, literary quotes printed on banners or posters, and book-themed centerpieces.
- Use book covers as posters or wall art. Print out images of book covers and frame them to display around the room.
- Print out quotes from famous Mexican authors or books and display them on the walls or tables.
- Write book-related quotes on colorful cards and hang them from strings across the party area.
Book Exchange:
- Book Exchange Activities: Encourage guests to mingle, socialize, and discuss their favorite books.
- Provide opportunities for guests to share why they chose the books they brought or why they love their favorite books.
- Set up a cozy reading nook where guests can browse through their exchanged books or share their favorite reads with each other.
- Set up book displays or book stacks as decorations, along with sombreros, maracas, and mini piñatas.
- Host book trivia games, literary charades, or a book-themed quiz.
- Literary Trivia:
- Create a trivia game featuring questions about Mexican literature, authors, and books with Mexican settings or themes.
- Divide guests into teams and ask questions related to famous Mexican authors, classic Mexican literature, or well-known Mexican literary works.
- Provide small prizes for the winning team.
- Book Title Charades:
- Have guests act out book titles while others guess the title.
- Choose books with Mexican or Latin American themes, or simply popular books that guests are likely to know.
- Write the book titles on slips of paper and place them in a bowl. Each player takes turns drawing a slip and acting out the book title without speaking.
- Guess the First Line:
- Create a game where guests have to guess the opening lines of famous books with Mexican or Latin American settings.
- Read out the first lines of books aloud, and guests have to write down the title of the book they think it’s from.
- The guest with the most correct guesses wins a prize.
- Literary Trivia:
- Provide opportunities for guests to share why they chose the books they brought or why they love their favorite books.
Book-inspired Menu:
- Serve “Lit” Dishes: Plan a menu featuring Mexican-inspired dishes and drinks with a literary twist.
- Serve dishes mentioned in favorite books or those inspired by Mexican cuisine, such as tacos, nachos, quesadillas, guacamole, salsa, and churros.
- Create fun labels for each dish, incorporating bookish puns or references.
- For example, “Harry Potter’s Queso Fundido: Cheesy Magic in Every Bite” or “Verde Gables Enchiladas: Anne Shirley’s Favorite Comfort Food.”
- Create fun labels for each dish, incorporating bookish puns or references.
- Create themed cocktails like “Margarita Mockingbird“ (a play on the classic margarita) or “Tequila Mockingbird” (a literary-themed cocktail book by Tim Federle).
- Serve classic margaritas made with tequila, triple sec, lime juice, and simple syrup.
- Offer variations such as mango or strawberry margaritas.
- Serve dishes mentioned in favorite books or those inspired by Mexican cuisine, such as tacos, nachos, quesadillas, guacamole, salsa, and churros.
Party Favors:
- Fill Gift Bags Worthy of a Fiesta: For a bookish Cinco de Mayo party, you can give your guests party favors that combine elements of Mexican culture with a love for books.
- Miniature Piñatas:
- Give guests small piñatas filled with bookish treats like bookmarks, chocolate candies, or miniature notebooks.
- You can find or make piñatas in shapes like books, cacti, or sombreros.
- Literary Tea or Coffee Blends:
- Give guests sample packs of Mexican-inspired tea or coffee blends, with names like “Cinco de Mayo Morning Brew” or “Tea of the Tacos.”
- Include a small note explaining the blend’s inspiration or ingredients.
- Personalized Bookplates:
- Create custom bookplates for guests to stick inside their books. Design them with Mexican motifs or literary illustrations.
- Include guests’ names on the bookplates for a personalized touch.
- Mexican-themed Bookmarks with Seeds:
- Provide guests with bookmarks embedded with seeds that can be planted to grow Mexican herbs or flowers, such as cilantro, chili peppers, or marigolds.
- Include instructions for planting and caring for the seeds.
- Miniature Piñatas:
By combining elements of Mexican culture with your love of books, you can create a unique and memorable Cinco de Mayo celebration that your guests will love. Don’t forget to take plenty of photos to capture the fun memories!
