This weekend a Mexican fiesta is hitting Sydney’s oldest streets in celebration of Cinco de Mayo, and it’s set to be as delicious as it is colourful. The festival, aptly named Tacos N Tequila, will be held in the Rocks, and aims to showcase the very best Mexico has to offer, including street food, entertainment, art and margaritas.

To kick off the festival, Sydney’s beloved Mexican restaurants have come together to create a menu that Queen Isabella herself would be proud of. The offering that has been expertly curated to celebrate different styles of Mexican cuisines, originating from regions all over the country.

“The very fact that a festival like this is having its first run in Sydney shows how interested people are in the authentic Mexican food and cultural experience,” said stallholder Rosa Cienfuegos when we speak of the upcoming festival. “it's great to see that people are seeking these things out now - trying to find a little piece of Mexico here in Australia.”

Festival stall holders will include Chula Potts Point , So-Cal, Bad Hombres, Chefin, and all-time favourites Panama House, Rosa Cienfuegos and Messina. Each vendor will bring a dish that celebrates who they are and what their food is all about. They’ll also create a limited-edition dish just for the festival, in honour of Cinco de Mayo.

Vendors will provide everything from tacos and tamales, to charred corn and quesadillas. If you’re anything like me you’ll be heading straight for Cienfuegos’s pastor tacos (achiote and onion-marinated pork, grilled and topped with pineapple), before making your way around every stall with a salt-rimmed paloma by Altos Margarita Bar in hand. Messina’s specialty Mexican dessert, Lechendairy, is the perfect way to close your culinary adventure: layers of milk crumble, dulche de leche gelato, milk sponge and cream topped with warm roasted cinnamon anglaise.

When we chat about the shifting mentalities towards the Mexican cuisine, Cienfuegos says “When I started cooking Mexican food in Australia, people had no idea what to expect or even what, indeed, real Mexican food is actually like. To some extent, that's still true, but it's changing.”

To ensure the festival goes beyond singularly culinary representations of Mexican culture, joining the line-up is Lucha Libre with their crowd pleasing Mexican wrestling displays, Skullaver’s ornate skull street art and a performance from Latin American band, Veneno. Other activities include a taco eating competition and tequila masterclass.

Speaking with Cienfuegos about her passion for cooking, she’s unwavering: “my drive [is] to represent my country, serve my fellow Mexicans and educate Aussies as to the real taste of Mexico.”

Tickets to Tacos N Tequila are FREE, so make your way down to Dawes Point on May 4 and 5.

For ticket registration and further updates about Tacos N Tequila, as well as transport information regarding the event:
 www.tacosntequila.com.au.

Tacos N Tequila

9 Hickson Rd
The Rocks
May 4, 10am – 5pm
May 5, 10am – 7pm