A few days ago we saw a lighted traffic sign in town that said “El Grito – Bucklin Park – Sat 6pm”. We weren’t sure exactly what that meant, but upon returning home I looked it up. It turns out El Grito is short for El Grito de Dolores, the Cry of Dolores. That’s the event on September 16, 1810, when a Catholic priest named Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the bell at his church and gathered his congregation to start the movement that led to Mexico’s independence from Spain.
In short, El Grito is to Mexico what July Fourth is to America. Since we live in a city that’s over 80% Mexican, it didn’t surprise us that there was a big city-wide celebration this weekend.
The weather was a refreshingly cool 95 degrees, so we headed out. It’s about a mile from our apartment to Bucklin Park, and it felt like walking weather.
The park is quite large, and it was filled with thousands of people and dozens of booths. You could buy tons of Mexican flags and hats, any kind of taco you could imagine, and about five different varieties of snow-cone or shave-ice. There was definitely a fun carnival atmosphere.
When we arrived there were flamenco dancers doing their thing onstage:
Later, they were replaced by a mariachi band.
We enjoyed walking around and feeling the same sort of excitement from the crowd that you’d find at a Fourth of July carnival. Happy Independence Day, Mexico! Or, as they say, Viva Mexico!