Independence Day
16 September 2026 — Ding-dong! The bell calls out for freedom – viva México!
On 16 September Mexico marks the start of its struggle for independence from Spain. Early that morning in 1810, the priest Miguel Hidalgo gathered people in the town of Dolores and called them to rise up. The call is known as the Cry of Dolores (Grito de Dolores). Tradition says it was sounded by ringing the church bell. The war lasted almost eleven years, and independence was proclaimed in 1821.
On the night of 15 to 16 September the president steps onto the balcony of the National Palace in Mexico City and gives the Grito: he calls out the names of heroes of the struggle and “Viva México!”, then rings the very bell brought from Dolores. In the Zócalo square, thousands answer the cry, sing and watch fireworks. Streets and homes are decorated in green, white and red, and tables hold traditional dishes such as pozole and chiles en nogada. The holiday falls on a fixed date and does not depend on the lunar calendar or any astronomical event, but the sky gets its own glow from the fiery colours of the fireworks.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver star figure made of luminous dots and thin connecting lines, like a constellation, shaped as a swinging bell that glides across the sky
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