With Cinco de Mayo just around the corner and plenty of drinking-related happenings guaranteed to satisfy your thirst throughout the city, we’ve gathered together five events that have a little less to do with partying and a little more to do with arts, culture, wellness, community service and more.
Cemetery Cleanup
Friends of Sunnyside Cemetery Long Beach invites the community to join their Cinco de Mayo Cleanup on Saturday to help prep the site for upcoming events like Mother’s Day and Memorial Day. The 13-acre cemetery will need help with weeding, leveling uneven ground and general clean up. They also sign for community service hours.
Volunteers are advised to wear gloves, sturdy shoes, long pants, a hat and sunblock. The host is also requesting that volunteers bring their own tools such as weed trimmers, shovels, rakes and dust pans.
The cleanup will take place from 9:00AM to 1:00PM. For more information on the event, visit the Facebook event here.
Sunnyside Cemetery is located at 1095 East Willow Street.
Cinco de Mayo Wellness
Pools of Hope is celebrating their 55th anniversary with Evento de Wellness on Cinco de Mayo. KTLA 5 TV reporter and KFI-AM 640 radio host Elizabeth Espinosa will be hosting the event, which will be launching a breathmobile site clinic, offering free swimming classes, back screenings and free food.
The breathmobile site will help treat children and youth for asthma. The event will take place from 11:00AM to 1:00PM and include an aquatic Zumba class starting at noon and recreational swimming for everyone at 1:00PM.
For more information on the event, visit their website here.
Pools of Hope is located at 6801 Long Beach Boulevard.
Recycle Your Bicycle
The Department of Public Works, Environmental Services Bureau (ESB) is hosting their second annual Recycle Your Bicycle on May 5 at five different locations in Long Beach.
ESB is inviting residents to recycle their unwanted bicycles throughout the city from 9:00AM to noon. The usable bikes will be restored and donated to nonprofits, which will distribute the bikes to local youth and families. Bicycles or parts that can’t be reused will be recycled.
Bicycles can be dropped off at the following locations:
- Whaley Park: 5620 Atherton Street
- El Dorado Park West: 2800 North Studebaker Road
- Admiral Kidd Park: 2125 Santa Fe Avenue
- Houghton Park: 6301 Myrtle Avenue
- Pedal Movement: 223 East 1st Street
Empower Arts
Councilmember Robert Uranga is partnering with the Arts Council for Long Beach to celebrate arts education and veteran creativity through visual and performing arts at American Gold Star Manor.
Empower Arts offers hands-on cultural art workshops for high school students through showcasing cultural and artistic traditions of Latin America and Native Americans.
The event will be held from 11:00AM to 2:00PM and showcase work from students that participated in the workshops with artist-in-residence Martin Espino, Living Arts classes and jam sessions at Century Villages at Cabrillo. For more information visit the website here.
American Gold Star Manor is located at 3021 North Gold Star Drive.
Amazing Comics to Host Cinco de Comic for Free Comic Book Day on Saturday
Free Comic Book Day
Amazing Comics in East Long Beach will be hosting Cinco de Comic for the 17th annual Free Comic Book Day.
Comic book store retailers participating in the event, including Pulp Fiction and Amazing Comics & Cards, among other local shops, will be giving away specially printed copies of free comic books during the day. You can find a participating store near you by searching via the link here.
Amazing Comics is located at 5555 East Stearns Street #102.