Mexico celebrates Independence Day on September 16 because that date marks the start of the war that, in 1810, put an end to nearly 300 years of Spanish rule and gave rise to Mexico as a sovereign nation. On the night of September 15, with the Grito de Independencia at 11:00 p.m., Mexicans across the country and around the world come together to commemorate that founding moment with pride, tequila and pachanga.
Mexicans love a good pachanga. At the slightest excuse we are already throwing a party: is a cousin moving abroad? Party. Did they come back? Party too. Is it Friday? Party. Is it Wednesday? Party all the same. When it comes to reasons to celebrate with friends and family, we never run out.
But there is one special night when all Mexicans, and even the visitors among us, celebrate at the same time. One night a year when everyone born on this land comes together in patriotic pride to commemorate the same moment: the night of the Grito de Independencia.
That night commemorates the start of a war that lasted 11 years, from 1810 to 1821, and ended favorably for Mexicans. Thanks to it, we won our independence from Spanish rule and recovered our sovereignty as a nation. We took the reins of our own country. Does that deserve a commemorative party every year? Of course it does.
On September 16, 1810, the priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the bell of the church in the town of Dolores, Guanajuato, and gathered the community to rise up in arms against Spanish rule. That call, known as the Grito de Dolores, marked the start of the war of independence. Every September 15 at 11:00 p.m., that moment is commemorated in every plaza and municipality in the country with the Grito de Independencia ceremony.
Mexicans are deeply attached to our country. We can live abroad, travel to other places and discover new horizons, but we always carry what is Mexican in our soul. It does not fade, no matter how far we roam. It is the feeling captured in "México lindo y querido," one of the most beloved songs in the country's history, whose closing verse is a promise to be brought home:
"México lindo y querido, si muero lejos de ti, que digan que estoy dormido, y que me traigan aquí."
Roughly: Beautiful, beloved Mexico, if I die far from you, let them say I am only sleeping, and carry me home to you. The lines are about longing for home from a distance, and the certainty of belonging to one place above all others.
We return to our land and finally feel at home. There is nothing like our sense of humor, our food, our music, our landscapes and those examples of solidarity that define us as a people.
We inhabit a broad, varied territory, with regions, climates, cuisines and people of every kind, but all Mexican in the end. Battered by crises and a thousand problems, yet always standing and giving it our all every day. We are a great Mexico not only in territory, but also in ambition. That is what we celebrate: that we do not give up, that we look ahead, that we have the reasons and the resources to become an even better country.
Independence was the first step, a very important one and worthy of commemoration, but the work of improving this great community of people as varied as we are never ends. From then until now, we keep striving so that wellbeing reaches everyone who lives on and shares this beloved land, a land we never forget no matter how far away we are.
Thanks to independence we began to build our identity as Mexicans, to value what is ours over what is foreign. We are a country that started to recognize itself as such thanks to that struggle that began on a September 16 and ended with the great gift of becoming a sovereign nation. It was thanks to this independence that we could begin to build ourselves as Mexicans, to think and work on our project as a nation.
As Mexicans, we know there is no pachanga without tequila, much less at a celebration as Mexican as this one. Tequila, Jalisco, is the land where Mexico's national spirit was born, and celebrating September 16 here carries a symbolic weight no other place can match. The cobblestone streets, the fields of blue agave and the aroma of the distilleries make this night completely different from any other celebration.
Casa Sauza celebrates its Mexican Night every year at the Quinta Sauza manor: live mariachi, traditional Mexican cuisine and tequila tasting in the very place where tequila has been made since 1873. Details for the 2026 event will be available soon.
And if this year you would rather celebrate at home, download our free guide to hosting your own Independence Day party:
September 16 is celebrated because it marks the start of Mexico's war of independence in 1810, when the priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla called on the people to rise up in arms against Spanish rule. That war lasted 11 years and ended with Mexico's independence in 1821, turning the country into a sovereign nation.
El Grito de Independencia is the commemorative ceremony held on September 15 at 11:00 p.m. in plazas and municipalities across Mexico. The government representative rings the bell, waves the Mexican flag and repeats the traditional lines of Miguel Hidalgo's historic call. Every year, millions of Mexicans in the country and around the world join this celebration at the same time.
September 15 is the night of the Grito de Independencia, the commemorative ceremony held at 11:00 p.m. September 16 is the official Independence Day of Mexico, declared a national public holiday. The main festivities take place on the night of the 15th, while the formal civic parades and events are held during the day on the 16th.
The most common lines of the Grito de Independencia are: ¡Viva México! (Long live Mexico!), ¡Vivan los héroes que nos dieron patria! (Long live the heroes who gave us our homeland!), ¡Viva la independencia nacional! (Long live national independence!) ¡Y vivan nuestras instituciones! (Long live our institutions!). The exact words vary by version and by the representative leading the ceremony, but they all commemorate the original call of Father Hidalgo in 1810.
In Jalisco, the main options to celebrate September 16 are the public plazas of Guadalajara, Tlaquepaque, Zapopan and Tonalá, and the magical town of Tequila, Jalisco, where Casa Sauza celebrates its Mexican Night at the Quinta Sauza manor.