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[RAP MUSIC] ART HUGHES: Phillip Espinoza-Day longs for the moment someone manufactures a 9-inch wheel for his 1986 Monte Carlo. Until then, he'll have to settle for the standard 13-inch rims or shoes as lowriders call them, and accept the extra space between the pavement and the bottom of his car. Espinoza-Day is a low rider and amateur rapper and the emcee for tonight's lowrider showdown at the Cinco de Mayo bash on St Paul's West Side.

Low riding is a tradition originating with Mexican-Americans in California. Espinoza-Day says there's a following in Minnesota, but the weather can be a deterrent to enthusiasts who put $5,000 to $30,000 into their cars.

PHILLIP ESPINOZA-DAY: Man, it just got done snowing. There's a possibility it might snow tonight, and guys aren't going to have their car out there practicing the hop. And the show is Friday. So some of these cars that you're going to see, their first outing will be this event. If you don't have rhythm, you're not hopping high.

ART HUGHES: The lowrider show is a small part of what has become one of the Twin Cities largest festivals. Julie Eigenfeld is director of the Riverside Economic Development Association, which puts on the festival. The event is so big she's had to hire an event planning firm the past three years. Cinco de Mayo is the association's biggest fundraiser of the year.

JULIE EIGENFELD: A lot of the time is devoted to creating-- to basically creating the sponsorship and working on all of those contracts and also overseeing all of the details, such as everything that goes out the door marketing wise, the branding of our event, making sure there's consistency in the advertisements.

ART HUGHES: Cinco de Mayo marks the day in 1862 when an ill-equipped army of mostly Indigenous Mexicans defeated the advancing French army on its way to Mexico City. The French ultimately won the war, but the battle in the city of Puebla instilled a sense of hope and national pride among the citizenry. Maximo Figueroa is from Puebla and works at the Joyeria Latina jewelry store in Minneapolis. He says if you want to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, don't go to Mexico.

MAXIMO FIGUERORA: There's only one celebration and it was in Puebla, Mexico specifically. None of the other states celebrate as much as they celebrate here. There's a parade with some schools and military army of the state.

ART HUGHES: The 2000 census shows the number of Hispanics in Minneapolis almost quadrupled since 1990. In St. Paul, the Hispanic population has doubled. More than 143,000 Hispanics call Minnesota home.

[LATIN MUSIC]

While Cinco de Mayo brings Hispanic culture into focus, many businesses see the shifting demographics as a year-round opportunity. Gators Nightclub at the Mall of America recently boosted its Wednesday night business with a weekly Latin dance night. One Cuban patron named Anya is a regular.

ANYA: It's, you know-- I mean, it's not a big crowd, but we have some people that come here every Wednesday. So I guess that's why they stay open.

[LAUGHS]

For Cinco de Mayo, Gators plans to have the world's largest human piñata. As many as half of the customers at the bumper to bumper auto parts store in Richfield speak Spanish. To accommodate them, the company reimburses employees for taking Spanish classes and gives pay incentives for bilingual workers. Clerk Jeff Kelly also pulls out a notebook from under the counter labeled Spanish 101.

JEFF KELLY: Basically, it is written in English, but it has pictures of all the cars, suspension, brakes, that kind of thing. And the people who aren't able to speak any English and when we don't have someone here speaking Spanish, we can show them the book and they can, you know, point at the pitch, OK, we need one of these.

ART HUGHES: The celebration on the West Side of St. Paul starts tonight with an opening ceremony and the lowriding showdown. There are two festivals in Minneapolis's Phillip's neighborhood Saturday and Sunday. Art Hughes, Minnesota Public Radio.