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By Yolanda Najera Ewing
The Fiestas Patrias of St. Francis of Assisi Church on Main Street take place Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 12 and 13, celebrating community and the hard won Mexican independence through a revolutionary war.
The war began on the night of Sept. 15, and near dawn on Sunday, Sept. 16, 1810. Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a 57-year-old priest from an old family of Mexican-born Spaniards, gathered his parishioners in the small town of Dolores in the state of Guanajuato, and urged them to rise up in arms – even with stones, slings, sticks or spears – in order to defend their faith and dignity.
St. Francis Fiestas Patrias will begin with a car show where cars will be moving in beginning at 7 a.m. The show opens at 11 a.m. and features DJ Supetown, David Sinteral who will be performing during the entire car show. There will also be performances by J. Rydah and Grind King Z. The car show is set to end at 5 p.m. with a car hop. The awards for the event will be announced and presented at 6 p.m.
Saturday’s schedule of events includes the opening of the food booths at 9 a.m. The Fiesta Parade will begin at 11 a.m. on Main Street. Past Fiesta Queens and their Court are asked to enter individual floats and should contact Parade Chair Melissa Torres at 520-827-0475 or the Church Office at 520-689-2250. Game booths will open at 3 p.m. Mass will be celebrated at 5 where the 2015 Fiesta Queen will be crowned. Formal presentation of the 2015 Queen and her Court is set for 6 p.m. when the performance by Mariachi Alma Jalisco will also begin. The St. Francis Church Choir will perform at 7 p.m. Dancers will begin performing at 7:45 p.m. Mariachi Alma Jalisco will again take the stage at 8:15 p.m., and the band, “Primo,” will take over from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
On Sunday, food booths will open an hour later at 10 a.m. There will be a horseshoe tournament at 1 p.m. with the game booths opening up at 2 p.m. Mariachi Alma Jalisco will start playing at 5 p.m., and other entertainment will begin at 6 p.m. Mariachi Alma Jalisco will return to the stage at 7 p.m.
Although the St. Francis Fiestas Patrias last only two days, what Hidalgo began that fateful night in Dolores lasted a little more than 10 years. What he intended, and accomplished, was to launch his flock against the Spaniards born in Spain and living in Mexico, who had been exploiting the wealth of the Mexican people with the greatest injustice for 300 years. Within a month, he was joined by more than 50,000, mainly indigenous men, from the poorest levels of society. Attracted by his religious magnetism and by other less noble motives, Hidalgo’s “Army” devastated the cities of San Miguel, Celaya, and Guanajuato; they were on the verge of entering Mexico City when Hidalgo ordered them to retreat.
A few months later, in July of 1811, Hidalgo was tried by the Spanish Inquisition, condemned by the civil authorities, and executed. However, by then the seed had begun to sprout. It took the form of a long and violent social earthquake, almost without precedent in New Spain or the Americas: the Mexican War of Independence – a truly popular movement led by armed parish priests.
According to witnesses present at the original event, Hidalgo and his followers had shouted “¡Mueran los gachupines! Viva la Virgen de Guadalupe!” (“Death to the Spaniards! Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe!”). To this day residents of Mexico City, as well visitors, congregate annually on the Zócalo (central plaza of Mexico City, and the site of the ceremonial heart of the Aztec nation) to participate in the ritual of “El Grito” (The Cry). Mexico’s presidents have stood on the main balcony of the National Palace to ring “Hidalgo’s Bell” from Dolores, and lead the patriotic cry of “Long Live the Hero’s of the Nation! Long Live the Republic!”, and every year thousands of voices have shouted in reply “¡VIVA!”
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
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