Cinco de Mayo lands on an inconvenient Thursday this year, leaving Tucson's tequila-drinking party crowds with a tough decision to make.
Do you stay home with your cats, catching up on the latest season of "Better Call Saul" on Netflix, so you can be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for work the next morning?
Or do you seize the day and sally forth into the world, to start your weekend early at one of the many Tucson bars and restaurants hosting events this year.
As long as you drink responsibly and find a safe way to get home, we won't tell your boss if you don't.
Here are some of your options should you choose to partake.
Venture downtown
The bars and restaurants that inhabit downtown need little encouragement to host big parties, so you can expect of a lot of activity along East Congress, East Broadway and beyond this Cinco de Mayo.
Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress, will have Santa Pachita and DJ Buttafly holding court during its Cinco de Mayo festivities, which start at 6 p.m. with a $5 cover. Info: hotelcongress.com.
One block south, Thunder Canyon Brewstillery, 220 E. Broadway, will be hosting a hip-hop show, with a who's who of Tucson artists, including Cash Lansky, Kyirim, R3D, Roux and Big Vinci, starting at 8 p.m.
If you are willing to make the trek west of Interstate 10 along Congress, you can hit the Cinco de Mayo party at the MSA Annex, 267 S. Avenida del Convento, starting at 5:30 p.m. The evening, put on by the Tucson International Mariachi Conference, will feature dance performances from Compañia de Danza Folklórico and a set from Los Gallegos. Tickets are $20 at the door.
And if laughs over liquor is your preferred route for Cinco de Mayo this year, head to the Screening Room (facebook.com/screeningroom), 127 E. Congress, for its Cinco de Mayo Comedy Showcase, featuring local comics Omar Quintana, Autumn Horvat, Kelvin Garcia and Jesus Otamendi. The show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $7.
Farther afield
Downtown doesn't get to have all the fun.
The folks at St. Philip's Plaza are billing their Cinco de Mayo celebration as "the biggest in town," with the party incorporating Plaza restaurants, Union Public House, Proof Artisanal Pizza, Reforma Modern Mexican and the plaza that connects all three. Drink specials will be on the menu and the live music begins at 5 p.m.
Across the city, at 1439 S. Fourth Ave., American Eat Co. will be using Cinco de Mayo as the kickoff to a weekend of celebrations, including the modern food court's fourth anniversary (May-6-7) and Mother's Day on May 8. Live bands, DJs, drink specials and mariachi will all be on-hand to help you celebrate. Info: facebook.com/americaneatco
Some of the other bars and restaurants holding Cinco de Mayo events: Casa Marana, 8225 N. Courtney Page Way, in Marana; Monkey Bar, 1120 S. Wilmot Road; The Moonstone rooftop bar at Graduate Tucson, 930 E. Second St.; and The Frozen Cactus, 5769 E. Speedway.
Bighorn sheep, hummingbirds, deer, quail, rattlesnakes and great blue herons are among the many wild creatures that enliven Southern Arizona. Video by Doug Kreutz, Arizona Daily Star, 2016.
