Modeled on Miami's Calle Ocho Festival and harking back to the early 20th-century Fiesta de Los Angeles, it features vendors and musical acts.
[3][4] Although the holiday of Cinco de Mayo falls on May 5, which is the meaning of its Spanish name, Fiesta Broadway is always held on the last Sunday in April, since 1995.
A partnership of city officials, KMEX-TV and downtown merchants paid for the $1 million festival, which was taped and telecast over the Spanish-language Univision Network.
The first year's festival had occupied only 12 blocks on Broadway.The array of performers included the Latin American sensation Xuxa, Lucha Villa, La Prieta Linda and jazz greats Tito Puente and Poncho Sanchez.
The headlining performer was Cuban salsa star Celia Cruz, who was joined by artists as varied as Thalia, La Mafia, Pedro Fernandez, Marc Anthony, and Rey Ruiz.
[11][12] 2003: NBC4 (Los Angeles) aired a one-hour television special "Fiesta Broadway: Music for the Soul" directed at a mainstream audience.
[15] 2015: While organisers continued to bill Fiesta Broadway as the largest Cinco de Mayo festival in the world, attendance dwindled to 7,000 according to police estimates.