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PEEKSKILL, N.Y. Saturdays Cinco De Mayo festival in Peekskill will be an all-day affair with live music well into the evening.
The schedule of performances showcases the diversity of Mexican culture according to Ruben Alvares, owner and chef of Peekskills Rubens Mexican Cafe on North Division Street.
The festivities will start at 1 p.m. with games of skills, crafts and piñatas, face paintings, inflatable slides, prizes and raffles for gift certificates and more.
At 3 p.m. the band Intactos Del Norte will be performing music hits from northern Mexico. Then at 4 p.m. there will be a performance of Folklor Mexicano dancing from over five centuries.
They will be doing the dances of all the different Mexican states, Alvares said. These are the really traditional things we do in Mexico
At 5 p.m. Mariachi Las Americas will hit the stage. Mariachi is a genre of music that originated in the state of Jalisco in Mexico and is often accompanied by dancing. At 6 p.m. Peekskills Los Rufianes will perform.
They got together in 2004 and they play music from the northern Mexico area called Durango, Alvares said. Right now there is a very popular dance in Mexico called Duranguense so those guys play that kind of music.
At 8 p.m. Los Leales, another Duranguense band, will perform. At 7 p.m. and again at 9 p.m. the popular group La Banda Agave will perform a set of brass-based traditional music. Bandas play a wide variety of Mexican songs, including rancheras, corridos, cumbias, baladas and boleros.
There are 12 musicians its a big band, Alavres said. Theyre popular all over New York Brooklyn, Queens, all over. They have music that also plays a little like Polish and German music, like Polka.
Attendees looking for food can stop by Rubens or any of the other restaurants in the downtown area, many of which will have dining outdoors close enough to the stage to hear the music.
The Cinco de Mayo festivities will shut down South Division Street between South Street and Park Street; North Division Street between Park Street and Main Street; Park Street between Division Street and Bank Street; and Central Avenue between Division Street and Nelson Avenue up to the driveway for the municipal parking lot.
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