Southland Will Observe Mexico’s ‘4th of July’

Those who celebrated in May what they thought was Mexico’s independence day can do it again this weekend. This time, they’ll be right.

A big-top circus from Mexico, folkloric dancing, several festivals and a re-enactment of a poor village priest’s cry for freedom will begin the Southland’s celebration of el 16 de Septiembre, Mexican Independence Day. Many of the events take place in Santa Ana.

The observance marks el Grito de Dolores-- the call by Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla to peasants in the central Mexican village of Dolores in 1810 to revolt against three centuries of Spanish colonial rule. Although it took 11 years to defeat Spain, Mexicans regard the date of the priest’s exhortation as the day that an independent Mexico was created.

Wrong Holiday

Despite its significance in Mexico’s history, el 16 de Septiembre does not seem to attract the attention north of the border that Cinco de Mayo does.

“The American people think el Cinco de Mayo is the big celebration and one of the reasons, I think, is because it’s easier to say than el 16 de Septiembre, “ said Ruben Martinez, who will re-enact el Grito de Dolores in a Santa Ana celebration next week.

“I think of the 16th of September in the same way as the Fourth of July. I celebrate both of them,” Martinez said.

Salvador L. Mendoza, president of the Mexican Arts Council at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, said the council will hold a large Independence Day celebration. “Hopefully, we’ll educate the general population in trying to appreciate the beauty and positive aspects of the Mexican-American culture,” he said.

Some Latinos have complained that public festivities and organized school activities have inadvertently fostered the misconception that Cinco de Mayo-- commemorating the May 5, 1862, victory of a ragtag force of Mexican troops against a superior French army near Puebla--is Mexican Independence Day.

People of Mexican descent won’t be the only Latinos celebrating their independence in the coming days. Five Central American nations--Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica--will observe their independence from Spain on Monday.

In a separate revolution that coincided with the defeat of the Spanish in Mexico in 1821, the Central American region declared its freedom from colonial rule. The area was one country at the time, but political and cultural differences eventually contributed to the creation of the five separate nations.

Among the events planned today and Sunday to mark the Central American countries’ independence is a showing of Mayan art from Guatemala at the new Midtown Hilton Hotel, 400 N. Vermont Ave. in Los Angeles. But the focus of this weekend’s activities will be decidedly Mexican in flavor.

Today, the Downtown Santa Ana Business Assn. is holding a street fair along Sycamore Street between 3rd and 5th streets. Strolling mariachis will fill the air with music, and food booths staffed by operators of downtown restaurants will line the streets. The main event is a big-top circus from Mexico that will be stationed at Sycamore and 3rd. The street fair continues from noon to 8 p.m.

Also in Santa Ana, at the Bowers Museum, 2002 N. Main St., an all-day Mexican Independence Day celebration begins at 9 a.m. Sunday with a breakfast of menudo, chorizo con juevos and tortillas. Events throughout the day until 6 p.m. include a performance by Relampago de Cielo, an Orange County folkloric dance troupe, a puppet show and a tamale-tasting contest. Charros (Mexican cowboys) will demonstrate roping techniques. Everyone is invited to wear Mexican dress. Admission is $3 for those 18 and older.

On Tuesday, the City of Santa Ana will offer its second annual re-enactment of el Grito de Dolores at the Civic Center Plaza. The one-hour ceremony will begin at 11:30 a.m. with a color guard presentation of flags, followed by the singing of the national anthems of the United States and Mexico, said city spokeswoman Estela Guiterrez-Veloz. Then, Santa Ana resident Ruben Martinez will read Hidalgo’s speech in English and Spanish.

A Cal State Fullerton Mexican-American group, Mecha (for Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztalan), also will sponsor an all-day celebration Tuesday with speakers, Aztec and folkloric dancing and Mexican food at the university amphitheater, said spokesman Felipe Plascencia.

The weekend after Mexican Independence Day, the Friendly Center of Orange will hold its annual La Jamaica festival. The festival, which will run from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sept. 20, is expected to draw from 2,000 to 3,000 people to the 400 block of Cypress Avenue in Orange, Mary Garcia of the Friendly Center said. The center is a United Way agency. Food, music and the crowning of La Jamaica queen will be part of the festivities, Garcia said.