Fiesta de Independencia

El Grito 

September 16 is Mexican Independence day, celebrating the famous cry ("el grito") of Hildago as he exhorted his followers to rise up against the Spanish.  Apparently he had been avoiding armed conflict, but when  he found out that there was an arrest warrant for him, he suddently decided to fight in the early hours of September 16, 1810.  He rang the church bell to call the village people to take a stand against the Spanish authorities.
That was the beginning of the armed independence movement, which is celebrated each September.  


September 15th
 Actually, most of the festivities occur on the night of September 15 when crowds gather in the square, the governor or mayor rings the bell at midnight and the people all shout "¡Viva Mexico!" and they shoot off lots of fireworks.  For people from the US, it feels more like a New Year's Eve celebration than July 4th.

    

   

The crowd in the street on Friday night were impressive! They blocked off the main street and people crowded around the stage that had been set up at the far end to watch dancers and mariachi musicians. 

   

   

 

   

 
The crowd became a bit much for us, so we took refuge behind the gates of the Cathedral where we actually had room to turn around.   Here are Sarah (in shawl) and Helen, having climbed up the fence of the cathedral, peering over into the street to see the drum and bugle corps.  The streets were absolutely FULL of people and the only way to see anything was to get above the crowd.  

It gave us a great view for a while, until they closed the gates in preparation fot the fireworks show.

Unfortunately we had to leave our spot just before the governor's appearance, so I guess we missed the main event.













    

 We did get to see the fireworks from the other end of the street, however.
 
 
   
   



A big part of the "scene" in the centro were all of the vendors who set up booths in the streets around the plaza.  They covered many blocks around the plaza, selling snacks like sugar cane (peeled and cut, most people buy it covered with chili pepper!) , all kinds of street food, as well as jewelry, CDs and videos, and even underwear.
 

 

 
   

 

September 16th.

Then on  September 16th they have the "Civic and Military Parade".  We weren't quite sure what to expect (and we probably wouldn't have guessed if we had tried).  There were lots of elementary and middle schools on parade and some civic and military groups, but none of the clowns and floats that we might have seen in the US.  On the other hand, much was the same- vendors selling patriotic regalia and crowds lining up along the street.


   

All of the umbrellas were for shade, not rain!

  

The parade started with students from the public elementary schools marching in their uniforms to the beat of each school's drum and bugle corp. They were then followed by the secondary school students, also with their own bugle corps.  They marched with stern faces, straight legs and arms, perfect posture - it was reminiscent of many military parades.  Everyone marched: 5 year-old school children, girls and boys, ambulance drivers, police, firemen.  And no one smiled or waved: it wasn't so much a celebration as a show of force.

 I read in the paper on Sunday that there were over 6000 school children marching in this parade and a few hundred soldiers.  But that is nothing compared to >20,000 *soldiers* in the parade in Mexico City.  

 
   

and even included contingents from the various departments at the Universities in town.
 

They were followed by contingents from the police and military.
   

 And of course there were ambulances and fire trucks with their lights flashing, but unlike the US, they didn't turn on their sirens at all, nor did they throw candy.



   

  Finally at the end there were a few horses and caballeros - the only non "serious" part of the parade.