![MEXICO Fiesta in Guanajuato.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-01.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
Ever since the celebration began to trickle eastward from California during the middle of the 20th century, Cinco de Mayo has been subject to several misconceptions in the United States. Many people mistakenly equate it with Mexico’s Independence Day, which actually takes place on September 16. Thanks largely to the marketing efforts of beer companies, many use it as an excuse to drink to excess while donning sombreros, the meaning behind the celebration of little consequence to revelers. But in reality, the holiday commemorates the Mexican army’s defeat of the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862, after which the heavily outnumbered Mexican forces’ victory over the well-equipped French invaders came to symbolize national unity and strength.
The holiday has evolved to more broadly celebrate Mexican heritage and culture, which LIFE featured in a 1968 photo essay by photographer John Dominis. Dominis was dispatched to Mexico ahead of the 1968 summer Olympics, which would bring many international travelers there. The photographs celebrated the country’s diverse ethnic makeup, its fiestas and its food, as well as its modernizing urban centers. They were, for many of LIFE’s readers, a first intimate glimpse into life south of the border, and one that presented the country’s richness of culture as worthy of admiration.
Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizabethRonk.
![MEXICO Fiesta in Guanajuato.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-01.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01263534.JPG Park dancers in Mexico City.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-02.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01263554.JPG Plaza singers in Vera Cruz.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-03.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01263552.JPG Indian of Morelia.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-04.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01263546.JPG Performers in Mexico.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-05.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01263540.JPG A wonders watcher.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-06.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![110973449.jpg A mariachi band, Mexico.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-07.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01263518.JPG Incense bearer in Chiapas.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-08.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01263568.JPG A young girl in Mexico.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-09.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01263550.JPG Market, Mexico City.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-10.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01263572.JPG Market children, San Miguel de Allende.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-11.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![00550953.JPG Lily seller, San Critóbal de las Casas.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-12.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01263576.JPG Fruit stand, Mexico City.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-13.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01263526.JPG Hammock seller, Oaxaca.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-14.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![110973455.jpg Man with balloons, Mexico.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-15.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01263520.JPG Pinwheel display, Mexico City.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-16.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01263564.JPG Hatful of onions, Vera Cruz.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-17.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01263548.JPG Cambio de mayordomo.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-18.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01263570.JPG Unloading fowl, Oaxaca.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-19.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01263516.JPG Woman shelling corn in wicker hampers at a local market, Mexico.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-20.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01263532.JPG Lunch on the Paseo de la Reforma.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-21.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01263542.JPG Couple in Chapultepec Park, Mexico City.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/150424-mexico-22.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
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Write to Eliza Berman at eliza.berman@time.com