Shout of Dolores — 15 September

¡Viva Mexico! These are the words powerful enough to free a nation on the eve of Mexico’s Independence Day. This is known in Spanish as the “Grito de Dolores” and translated as the Cry or Shout of Dolores, which is reenacted every year on September 15.

In 1810 in the village of Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang his church bells inviting the faithful to gather. As the priest gave a fiery speech demanding freedom from Spain, little did he know that he had set the wheels in motion for the nation’s independence. 

In tribute, every year during observances for the Shout of Dolores, Mexico’s president rings the very bell that Father Hidalgo rang, always ending the presidential speech with the words, “¡Viva Mexico!”