Viva La Independencia! Viva Mexico! We heard thousands of people shout this chant over and over again last weekend as part of Mexico’s Independence Day celebration on September 16^th. Every year, at 11 pm on the eve of Independence Day (September 15^th), thousands gather at Plaza de Armas in Guadalajara to celebrate and to reenact the famous “EL Grito de Dolores” (The Cry from Dolores).

History

In the early nineteenth century, Mexico began planning a revolt against Spain. Father Miguel Hidalgo from Dolores, Mexico, was a leader of one of the rallying groups and was planning a revolt for late fall of 1810. The Spanish discovered the plans and called for the arrest of Hidalgo and his officers. When Hidalgo heard of his impending arrest, he called a meeting at his church.

Father Hidalgo rang the church bell on the night of September 15, 1810, to call his congregation to mass. He rallied the people to fight for independence with a speech known as ‘El Grito de Dolores’, with the parishioners supporting the revolution by responding “Viva Mexico” and “Viva La Independencia.” Thus, began the fight for independence which lasted more than a decade and ended with the signing of the ‘Treaty of Córdoba’ on August 24, 1821, ending 300 years of Spanish rule.

The Celebration

We went to the Plaza de Armas on Sunday night for the celebration. There were other locations in Guadalajara reenacting “el Grito”, but we wanted to go to the largest gathering in the plaza where the state government buildings are located. We were warned about the crowds and we were part of an enormous crowd estimated at 80,000. Security was very tight, and there were only two entrance points into the plaza through metal detectors. All bags, backpacks, and purses were searched.

When we arrived, the Jalisco Symphony was performing along with a local tenor Fernando de la Mora. We also heard a popular mariachi band. Most impressive to us was the performance of the harp player and the amazing music coming from this five-piece band.

There were food vendors everywhere as well as vendors selling Independence Day souvenirs (sombreros, flags, tattoos, mustaches, etc.). A special dish for independence is Chili en Nogada which is a chili pepper stuffed with meat, grapes, and seasoning, smothered in a walnut cream sauce and topped with pomegranate seeds. The colors of the dish (green, red and white) are the colors of the Mexican flag. It is served cold and has a sweet and spicy flavor.

A little after 11 pm, the Jalisco state president (Guadalajara is the state capitol of the state of Jalisco) appeared on the balcony of the Jalisco Government Palace to reenact ‘EL Grito de Dolores’. The crowd responded in unison,” Viva la Independencia, Viva Mexico!”. After ‘El Grito’ the bells of the cathedral sounded and the fireworks began.

The celebration didn’t stop there. The next morning, we watched the Independence Day parade next to Parque de Revolución (a good name to host an Independence Day parade). The parade consisted of military and security organizations. It is hard to understand all of the levels of security forces, but we saw federal police, state police, local police, government security force, traffic police, urban police as well as the national guard. Each displayed their vehicles and equipment. K9 units from each of these different groups marched. Also, on display were fire and rescue organizations (and K9 rescue dogs). Even the Guadalajara Red Cross participated in the parade.

For the rest of the day, the city was very quiet. Families and friends gathered to spend the day together in homes, parks or haciendas. We were surprised that we didn’t hear fireworks all day and night long as we had in other countries.

This was the third Independence Day celebration we have participated in since we began traveling in South America and Mexico 11 months ago. Of course, in every county, the people are proud of their heritage and their county and the independence celebration is a time for people to come together and bond. We’re glad we were able to witness these celebrations and to share each country’s pride in their heritage.