Cinco De Mayo Parades Amidst Swine Flu Scare

Organizers for Sunday's parade met with the NYPD on Thursday as worries over swine flu spread. They were assured the open-air event was safe.

"They gave us the green light," said organizer Rafael Palma, 23, of Asociación Tepeyac, a Manhattan community group.

The dance troupes and bands were eager and unafraid, he said.

"They were really enthusiastic, so we kept with the idea," Palma said.

"We thought they were going to cancel it, but it turns out it was fine," said Maria Tellez, 25, who traveled from Riverhead, L.I., with her three kids to watch her saxophone-playing husband march.

Thousands jammed West Vernor in Southwest Detroit for the community's annual Cinco de Mayo parade on Sunday. Side streets were filled with people waving Mexican flags while other celebrants cruised in pickups

The event — a parade and festival dear to the South Bay's Mexican-Americans — usually lures tens of thousands of revelers downtown. But while the community's pride and tradition remained on full display at this year's parade, the 27th, the number who showed up to watch the lineup of dancers, musicians and classic cars fell dramatically.

"I was very shocked to see so few people here," said Maria Carrasco, 26, of San Jose, as a marching band stomped past Plaza de Cesar Chavez at the end of the parade route.

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.