About

The first Cinco de Mayo celebration in Corona was held in 1924. Ms. Teresa Lemus was the community’s first Cinco de Mayo Queen. Having moved to Corona from Phoenix, Arizona, her father wished to host a Cinco de Mayo celebration. With the help of the community, money was raised to hold a parade, fiesta, and a street dance. At that time, the parade traveled along the city’s Grand Boulevard Circle. After the parade, a fiesta continued on a small park now called Sheridan Park/Montoya Walk located at 300 Sheridan Street in the residential area of the barrio. Later in the evening, the celebration concluded with a street dance on Fourth Street between Sheridan and Merrill Street. According to local history, the celebration was not an annual event. In 1972, community leaders agreed to hold and organize an annual celebration with the idea of raising money to award a scholarship to a student graduating from Corona Senior High. At that time, there was only one high school. The committee organized a queen contest. Young women from the barrio were invited to participate. The queen contestants were asked to sell raffle tickets and the one who raised the most money would be crowned queen of the parade and fiesta. That year, the first $50.00 scholarship was awarded. The tradition continues forty-one years later and each year, depending on the money raised by the queen contestants and the success of the events, the committee awards scholarships. Since 1994 to 2018, a total of $255,568 has been awarded in scholarships to the Corona-Norco Unified School District. The Riverside