Cinco De Mayo w/ Craftermath at The Dining Room!

CRAFTERMATH presents an LES alternative to Cinco De Mayo mayhem in a hybrid boutique/bar!

Celebrate Cinco De Mayo with CRAFTERMATH at The Dining Room!

Hi there Columbus Circle Hostel Visitors and all you beautiful New Yorkers! If you’re looking for a fun, alternative way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo (yeah, it’s actually today!) we have an interesting invitation for you for this evening. Join CRAFTERMATH Creatives at the Dressing Room tonight at 7 pm in the Lower East Side.

We’ve blogged about these guys before but we’ll give you another scoop to refresh your memory. They actually sell punk crafts & unusual art at The Dressing Room. This amazing little store features emerging designers & vintage goods, clothing exchange/charity donation. Not only is their artwork affordable, but even more importantly the proceeds from sales are donated to charity and your purchases come with drinks (yes, you got that right). Happy Hour is a real deal plus they have a permanent $ 5 beer & whiskey combo. In addition, you’ll get to see a collage of films by a special guest filmmaker on the gold-framed movie screen. JESSICA DELFINO will share a new song, perhaps on an uncommon instrument (as she usually does). This time it’s is a “flower & fauna theme”: you’ll browse through some new wearable flowers in unusual mediums, and some tattoo-butterfly themed art, in addition to their regular jewelry, paintings, comics, mini-shrines, etc.

We’re really hoping you’ll be able to check out the CRAFTERMATH event today because exciting & unusual fun times are awaiting! You’ll also hang out with some interesting individuals while there – CRAFTERMATH ALWAYS ATTRACTS Weird (but friendly) creative types who enjoy cheap craft-shopping, fashion, art, drinks, music and film. Doesn’t it sound like fun?

The Dressing Room
7 – 9 pm
75 A Orchard Street (btwn Broome & Grand Streets)
Lower East Side, NYC
Wednesday, May 5th
FREE!!!

So, like we said, it is in fact Cinco De Mayo today and we’d also like to share some perhaps interesting info about this Mexican holiday – we were actually surprised to learn some it, too! Here, in America it’s all the day that Mexicans and Mexican-Americans go out in droves to celebrate, with major cities commemorating the day and Mexican restaurants offering special margarita deals, right? But it actually turns out that May 5^th is not big of a deal in Mexico and it certainly is not the biggest day on its national holiday calendar! Despite popular misconception in the US, today is not Mexico’s Independence Day. Instead, it marks the anniversary of the 1862 Battle of Puebla when the Mexican Army defeated the French. Should you compare it to September 16th, the day Mexico really commemorates its independence, or Easter week, or even upcoming Mother’s Day, Cinco de Mayo is practically a non-event.

The holiday found its way to the United States in the 1950s and 60s, during the civil rights movement when Hispanic activists were attempting to foster goodwill between both nations and cultures. It was also only in the 1980s that marketers saw the holiday as a commercial opportunity to make a buck. Believe us when we say (and we DID actually ask some natives!) that a lot of Mexicans here don’t even know what it is we’re all so happily celebrating and commemorating – some of them don’t even know why the French had invaded Mexico in the first place… As a result, May 5^th has turned into a “Mexican pride day” in America – similarly to the Irish and St. Patrick’s Day. We are more than happy just going about this as another great (and don’t get us wrong – delicious, too!) excuse to guilt-free indulge ourselves in crunchy tacos, tortilla chips, guacamole while sipping on frozen Margaritas or Tequila shots! And since it’s such a gorgeous weather in New York today these drinks and chips are going to taste particularly delectable . ENJOY!!!