Cinco de Mayo Weekend: : Menudo, Music and Merriment

Menudo cook-offs, carnivals, folk dances, 10-kilometer races and live entertainment will mark Cinco de Mayo celebrations in several Orange County cities. The holiday commemorates the Battle of Puebla in 1862, when the Mexican army defeated the French invaders.

Among the activities:

- ANAHEIM--A carnival featuring rides, booths, music and food is being held at La Palma Park through Sunday. An open-air market, or mercado, will be set up adjacent to the park on Lincoln Street today and Sunday. Admission to the carnival and mercado is free. La Palma Park is at the corner of Harbor Boulevard and La Palma Avenue.

- SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO--A 10-kilometer run will begin in front of the city library at 31495 El Camino Real this morning at 8. On-site registration for the race will begin at 6:30 a.m. A $10 registration fee covers running numbers and T-shirts.

On Sunday, the library will have a celebration in its courtyard from noon until 5 p.m. The program will feature folkloric dancers, mariachis, food, booths and exhibits in the foyer of the adjacent auditorium.

The events are sponsored by the city, Rancho Mission Viejo, Friends of the Library and Libros y Artes, a local cultural group.

- SANTA ANA--A fiesta in Centennial Park features a circus and carnival, live entertainment and a menudo cook-off. The park is at the corner of Fairview Street and Edinger Avenue. The fiesta, which began Friday, will continue today from noon to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Today, the musical groups Tierra, War and Michael J will perform. On Sunday, Ballet (Coco) de Esteban Coronado, the mariachi band Lianeros de Jalisco, Myra Silva, Ricardo Ayala, Lorenzo de Monteclaro, Lupita Castro, Grupo Juvenil Amanecer and Mercedes Castro will perform.

A blessing by clerics from three local churches will begin Sunday’s activities, followed by the menudo cook-off. The entry fee for the cook-off is $25, and there can be no more than three people on each cooking team. First prize is $500, second prize is $300 and third prize is $200. The winner will be eligible for the California State Menudo Championship in San Jose in September.

Admission on both days is $4 for adults and $3 for children 48 inches tall and under.

All rides are free.

- FULLERTON--Events at Cal State Fullerton continue with a dance, beginning tonight at 8 in the University Center Pub. A campus 10-kilometer “Push/Run” for handicapped students, sponsored by the Handicapped Student Services, begins at 7:30 a.m. Sunday.

Monday is “Latina Activist Day” on the campus. Dolores Huerta of the United Farm Workers union and Sister Rosa Martha Zarate, representing the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino, will speak on the Quad beginning at 11 a.m. There will be Mexican food and an art exhibit. Organizers are the school’s Women’s Center and El Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, or MEChA.