Happy (Pre-emptive) Mexican Independence Day!

Mexican independence from Spain is officially celebrated on September 16 and the evening before, meaning tomorrow is party time for any community boasting Mexicans–i.e., the entire country. Since most folks don’t recognize this festivity in the shadow of its drunken older brother, Cinco de Mayo, we figured we’d fill you in on its basic gist. (Or you can just sit back and watch a bunch of dancing fools express their patriotism in the above clip.) It all started in the pueblo of Dolores when a priest named Miguel Hidalgo delivered a speech calling for Mexico to break away from Spain on Sept. 16, 1810; he then gathered a makeshift army (the men of his congregation) and mounted an insurrection that sparked the ten year-long War of Independence that’d end in Mexico’s favor. [Insert gratuitous shouts of "¡Órale!" here.] Hidalgo’s speech, known as the Grito de Dolores, is ceremoniously read by the Mexican president at this time every year while his people in the States are treated to special buffets and strip mall events. We can’t decide who here gets the shaft harder.

Grito de Dolores [Wikipedia]