Noche del Grito

One thing that I love about Mexico is that they know how to celebrate a holiday! There's always lots of vibrant colors, music and good food. This past holiday was no exception...

For those of you who didn't know, the Mexican day of independence is the 16th of September; however, it's the night before that gets all of the fan-fare. It's called "Noche del Grito" (Shout of Freedom). Among other things, most of the children get dressed up in traditional Mexican clothing from the early 1800's, an important town official rings a bell around 11 p.m. and all shout "Viva Mexico" in honor of Hidalgo and the other conspirators. It's a very important holiday for the people and most every state in Mexico celebrates this event.

Well, this year in our church, we hosted a "block party" with our neighbors and church members to celebrate the holiday. We received permission to close off the street, hired a mariachi to sing, had lots of food, fellowship and contests. The children dressed up and sang while the teens marched with their flag and then led us in salute to their pride.

We had several visitors and neighbors and even old members come and celebrate their independence day with us. All in all, it was a great event and I'm already looking forward to next year's party...!