Anyone visiting Merida on Thursday Sept. 15 should expect general hubbub, street closures and considerable traffic congestion around the Plaza Grande, as the city prepares for the nighttime celebration known as “El Grito.”
In Merida, the celebration attracting thousands of spectators will kick off about 9 p.m. and last until the early morning hours of Friday, featuring fireworks, a concert by singer Pepe Aguilar, and an appearance by Yucatan Gov. Rolando Zapata Bello, who will issue the “grito.”
Most people in Canada and the United States think that 5 de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day. In fact it is not; that date is observed to commemorate the Mexican army‘s unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza.
Yucatan Gov. Rolando Zapata Bello gave the “grito” at last year’s celebration. (PHOTO: unionyucatan.com)
But, “El Día del Grito” every 16th of September is the Mexican Fiesta par excellence! On this day Mexicans all over the world celebrate Mexico’s Independence from Spanish rule.
The “Grito de Dolores” (“Cry of Dolores”), was uttered from the small town of Dolores, in the State of Guanajuato in Mexico, on September 16, 1810. It is the event that marks the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence. The “grito” was the “pronunciamiento” of the Mexican War of Independence by Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Roman Catholic priest. Since October 1825, the anniversary of the event is celebrated as Mexican Independence Day.
¡Viva Mexico, everybody!
TYT Newsroom
