Diez y Seis (Dia de la Independencia), September 16

A patriotic festival celebrating the independence of Mexico. This is a national holiday in which Mexicans remember the beginning of the revolution against Spain. There are fiestas all across the country, the largest in Mexico City. The hero of this day is Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, called “the Father of Mexican Independence.” At eleven o’clock on the night of September 15, 1810, Father Hidalgo rang the church bell in Dolores, Morelos, as if to call his congregation to Mass. When the people gathered, he rallied them to action, giving them the Grito de Dolores; “Viva Mexico! Viva la independencia!.” Today, on the eve of independence, the President of Mexico appears on the balcony of the National Palace, rings the historic church bell and gives the cry. The festivities include: musicians, patriotic processions with flags and children dressed as patriotic heroes, dancing, costumes, masks, theatrics, ephemeral decorations, merry-making, and fireworks displays. In Teleloapan, Guerrero, home of famous devil mask maker, Fidel de la Fuente, there are processions and judging of devils. In a charreada,in Atotonilco el Grande, Hidalgo, the charros ride horses, rope steers and follow a tradition of attempting to catch a steer by its tail. In Mascota, Jalisco a promenade is held where the girls walk one way and the boys the other in an old fashioned custom of courtship. In the Zocálo, in Mexico City, the largest celebration is held with parades, banners, colorful patriotic decorations, dignitaries and tremendous fireworks displays. These slides document these and other traditions associated with the celebration held in these various villages and towns.

These slides are housed in LSF Container AA and Container BB.

A descriptive narrative of these slides is found on audiocassettes #11 sides A and B, which are housed in LSF Container RR.