East L.A. celebrates Mexican Independence Day

The aroma of Mexican food wafting out of busy food trucks. Colorful parade floats and dresses. Aguas frescas served up in souvenir cups. The energy of music and traditional dancers.

The flavors, richness and styles of Mexican culture were celebrated earlier this month at the 77th annual East Los Angeles (L.A.) Mexican Independence Day parade and festival.

Crowds of thousands ate, danced and cheered at the festival, enjoying parade performers, marching bands, equestrian units and folkloric groups.

Welcome to the 77th annual East LA Mexican Day parade and festival. Photo taken by Tristan Longwell.

Dancers perform in traditional folklorico garments during the parade. Photo taken by Tristan Longwell.

Mexico gained its independence from Spain on Aug. 24, 1821, when the Treaty of Córdoba was signed, according to the U.S. Library of Congress website. However, the holiday is celebrated on Sept. 16., which commemorates the day in 1812, when Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla first encouraged the fight for Mexico’s independence.

Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica celebrate Central American Independence Day on Sept. 15. The five countries first gained their independence from Spain in 1821, according to the United States (U.S.) Department of State website .

The festival is a big deal on the Eastside, a Latinx cultural hub in Los Angeles. East L.A. has a Latinx population of 96%, according to the United States (U.S.) Census Bureau.

The parade and festival, which celebrates the holiday, first started in 1946 and is sponsored by the non-profit organization Comité Mexicano Cívico Patríotico. This year, streets were blocked off from Cesar Chavez Boulevard to Gage Avenue for the parade and on Mednik Avenue between Cesar Chavez Boulevard and First Street for the festival.

“It’s…very typical of Jalisco to have a band and a mariachi during celebrations,” said Mid City resident, Miriam De La Torre.

While riding on a parade float accompanied by a band, De La Torre sported a traditional dress typically worn during dances called, Vestido Folklorico de Jalisco.

Señorita Jalisco poses for a picture, while sitting on top of her parade float. Photo taken by Tristan Longwell.

This was her second time participating in the parade. Last year, she participated as Señorita Michoacán for a beauty pageant with the Mexican state of Michoacán, and this year was invited as Señorita Jalisco to participate with the state of Jalisco. Her mother is from Michoacán and her father is from Jalisco.

Friends from Aguascalientes, Mexico, Nora Rodriguez, Gloria Suarez and Fernando Bobadilla came to the festival representing artist José Guadalupe Posada. Rodriguez and Suarez were dressed as Posada’s famous character La Calavera Catrina, also known as the “Dapper Skeleton.”

“We are very excited to be here because it is a representation of where we were born,” Rodriguez said.

Gloria Suarez, Nora Rodriguez and Fernando Bobadilla pictured in their Day-of-the-Dead inspired attire and makeup. Photo taken by Tristan Longwell.

Rodriguez, Suarez and Bobadilla wore traditional, Día de Los Muertos, skeleton-themed makeup, done by an artist and muralist who specializes in the particular theme. The group woke up at 4 a.m., the day of the festival, to get their intricate makeup done, according to Rodriguez.

Creative director of the Queer Mercado, Crystal Lopez, ran the non-profit organization’s booth during the festival, while the founder, Diana Diaz, marched in the parade wearing a Mexican cape. The organization hosts a monthly marketplace where they provide a “safe space” with food vendors, queer vendors, local art, live performances and more at the East L.A. Civic Center, down the street from the festival’s location. The organization brought in thirty vendors to this year’s celebration, according to Lopez.

“We want to bring in the culture to everyone because we have a lot of different people,” Lopez said. “We want to share” that.