Come Friday morning the University of Texas at El Paso will celebrate Mexico's El Grito at UTEP’s Union Plaza.

My brother was born on September 15th and for as long as I can remember every night on his birthday we’d stay up to watch El Grito on television and he would even joke that the celebration was all for him but in reality the celebration was for Mexico.

El Grito, also known as the Grito de Dolores or The Cry of Dolores (Dolores being the town) stems back to 1810 when on the early morning of September 16th priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the church bell and made a call to arms triggering the Mexican War of Independence separating the country from Spain.

In 1825 El Grito was celebrated nationally and every year since then the reenactment of El Grito continues and is typically celebrated on September 15 or 16th.

For the last 19 years the UTEP community has been celebrating and participating in El Grito and this year’s ceremony will include Consul General of Mexico in El Paso Marcos Bucio and UTEP President Diana Natalicio.

The event is free and open to the public beginning at 11:30 a.m. this Friday, September 14th at the UTEP Union Plaza.

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