Getting Ready to Celebrate Independence Day Around Mexico

At 11 pm on September 15 El Grito de la Independencia (The Cry of Independence) will be heard around the country. The grito, or shout, is called out as a reenactment of Father Hidalgo’s historic cry in the town of Dolores. Government officials call out the names of the heroes of the war, which are repeated by the throngs of citizens in this most celebrated holiday in México. The grito culminates with shouts of “Viva México!” and usually a fireworks display. Every city and town has its own way of celebrating the event that marks the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence, and everyone gets ready to celebrate beginning early in the month.

In preparation for this blog post I asked several blogger friends if they’d care to share a few pictures from the celebrations in their cities so that I could show you pictures from around the country as well as from my Mazatlán. You’ll notice some similarities, and some differences between our communities, I’m sure. These ladies write wonderful blogs which I hope you’ll check out, but right now I’d like you to introduce them to you:

Linda Adams from Álamos, Sonora – Good2Go2Mexico
Rebecca Smith Hurd from Puebla, Puebla – All About Puebla
Leslie Harris de Limon from Yahualica, Jalisco – Motherhood in Mexico and Recipes by Leslie
Billie Mercer from San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato – BillieBlog

I’d like to show you some pictures of some things that are similar between all the different communities:

alamos independence day — Photo courtesy Linda Adams

cholula ind-day — Photo courtesy Rebecca Smith Hurd

mazatlan independence day — Flags, Hats & Dusters

puebla independence day — Photo courtesy Rebecca Smith Hurd

sanmiguelflags — Photo courtesy Billie Mercer

yahualica patriotic souvenir vendor — Photo courtesy Leslie Harris de Limon

It is obvious by now that there are a lot of flags being sold around the country!

Let’s take a look at how different places decorate their municipal buildings:

yahualica presidencia — Photo courtesy Leslie Harris de Limon

yahualica independence day — Photo courtesy Leslie Harris de Limon

puebla zocalo 2010 — Photo courtesy Rebecca Smith Hurd

Each community is a little different in how they celebrate.Here are some unique Dia de la Independencia traditions around the country:

father hidalgo — Father Hidalgo rides in San Miguel de Allende. Photo courtesy Billie Mercer

puebla fireworks zocalo — Fireworks in the Puebla Zocalo – Photo courtesy Rebecca Smith Hurd

san miguel jardin — Banner in the jardin in San Miguel de Allende – Photo courtesy Billie Mercer

dolores hidalgo grito — Dolores Hidalgo waiting for the grito. Photo courtesy Billie Mercer

alamos fireworks y lamp posts — These lamps are put all around the edges of the buildings on the square – Photo courtesy Linda Adams

alamos fireworks y lampposts 2 — The lamps are visible just above the edge of the building. Photo courtesy Linda Adams

san miguel jardin twilight — San Miguel de Allende’s jardin at twilight – Photo courtesy Billie Mercer

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More about Nancy

I'm Nancy, a US expat living in San Antonio Tlayacapan, Jalisco after 11 years in Mazatlán, México.

9 Comments

Larry
September 15, 2011

Nancy – You were a day too soon with the camera. The city hall is even more decorated now, and there is a huge stage on the south side.

Kathie
September 15, 2011

Once again, you have given us a wonderful picture of life in Mexico. Thanks.

Craig Zabransky
September 15, 2011

Nancy,

Great to see the photos from the different locations. I especially enjoyed the ones form San Miguel, I spent an independence day there myself. Great time. Viva Mexico!

stay adventurous, Craig

Babs
September 15, 2011

Well done post Nancy – Billie’s photos are always magnificent as are all the others that you selected.

VIVA MExico

Nancy
September 15, 2011

Larry, That’s always the way it goes! Oh Well!

Kathie, Thanks so much.

Craig, Thank you, it was a communal effort, truly.

Babs, Thank you, I appreciated your sending me pics, just couldn’t use them for this post… I did save them though, hopefully I can use them in Nov! Saludos, amiga!