--- title: "el Grito" translation: "The Shout. The night of September 15." type: "word" category: "slang" url: "https://consalsa.app/words/el-grito" canonical: "https://consalsa.app/words/el-grito" published: "2026-09-12" updated: "2026-09-12" author: "Andrey the Nomad" site: "ConSalsa.App" license: "https://consalsa.app/terms#ip" --- # el Grito URL: https://consalsa.app/words/el-grito Translation: The Shout. The night of September 15. Pronunciation: /el ˈɡɾi.to/ Category: slang Region: Mexico Register: everyday, and a proper noun in this sense Variants: el grito, dar el Grito, el Grito de Independencia, la noche del Grito Literal meaning: Un grito is a shout. This one is the shout Miguel Hidalgo is said to have given in 1810 to start the war of independence. Published: 2026-09-12 Quick answer: - El Grito is the reenactment of the shout that started Mexican independence, held on the night of September 15. - The president rings a bell at the Zócalo near 11pm, shouts ¡Viva México! and the crowd answers ¡Viva! - Independence Day itself is September 16, but the celebration is the night before, and every town plaza does its own version. What it means: - One specific night. On September 15 the president appears on the balcony of the National Palace close to eleven, rings the bell brought from Dolores in 1896, calls out a roll of independence heroes and ¡Viva México!, and the crowd answers ¡Viva! to each one. Then the flag - taken from the honor guard and waved from the balcony, which is the image everybody has of the night - then the national anthem, sung by the whole square, and then the fireworks. - Every mayor in the country does the same thing in their own plaza at the same hour, and a great many families do a scaled-down version at home. Saying we are going to el Grito can mean the Zócalo, a town square, or somebody's roof. Literal meaning: - Un grito is a shout. The one being reenacted is the call the priest Miguel Hidalgo is said to have made in the town of Dolores in the early hours of September 16, 1810, to start the uprising. - What he actually said is not recorded, and the versions you will read were written down long afterwards. The modern shout is a roll of independence heroes followed by ¡Viva México! three times, and its wording changes with the government of the day - names get added and dropped, and recent administrations have added vivas to women and to indigenous women. Treat any version you are given as this year's, not as the original. - There is a story that Porfirio Díaz moved the celebration to the 15th because that was his birthday. He was born on September 15 - and the story is still false. Mexicans were marking the night of the 15th from the 1820s, and by 1840 the civic ceremony was already at eleven at night with a fair, a serenade and fireworks, decades before Díaz was president. - The real reason is duller and older: it is a víspera. The party is the eve, the way Christmas Eve outranks Christmas Day across the Spanish-speaking world. What Díaz did was formalize the ceremony, and in 1896 have the bell brought from Dolores to the National Palace - it is still there, and it is the bell that gets rung. How Mexicans use it: - It is the plan and the invitation. ¿Qué vas a hacer para el Grito? is a normal September question, and the answers are the Zócalo, a plaza, somebody's house, or nothing. - The food is part of the definition. Pozole is the standard, and September is also the season for chiles en nogada - the dish with the three colors of the flag on it, which is available for a few weeks and then gone. - The Zócalo version is enormous and it is a commitment. People arrive in the afternoon for a shout at eleven, there is no leaving early once you are in, and most chilangos will tell you to do it once and then do it in a plaza afterwards. What they will warn you about is the espuma - cans of foam sprayed at faces - plus confetti, matracas, and pickpockets in a crowd of a hundred thousand. - And what actually gets shouted after the official vivas, in the square and in every living room, is ¡Viva México, cabrones! On that night it is affectionate rather than aggressive, and it is the most quoted line of the whole thing. It does not travel to Monday. - Abroad, Mexican consulates hold their own, and for a lot of people living outside the country it is the night they show up. Common mistake: - Turning up on the 16th expecting the party. The 16th is the holiday and the parade; the night is the 15th, and somebody who invites you to el Grito means the evening before the date they said. - Confusing it with Cinco de Mayo. They are different months, different centuries and different events, and the confusion runs almost entirely one direction - from the United States, where Cinco de Mayo is the bigger occasion. Examples: - ¿Qué vas a hacer para el Grito? — What are you doing for the Grito? - Vamos al Zócalo a dar el Grito. — We're going to the Zócalo for the Grito. - En mi casa hacemos pozole y vemos el Grito en la tele. — At my house we make pozole and watch the Grito on TV. - El Grito es el 15, no el 16. — The Grito is on the 15th, not the 16th. Mini dialogue: A: ¿Y ustedes qué van a hacer para el Grito? B: Íbamos a ir al Zócalo, pero dicen que se pone imposible. A: Uy, sí. Una vez en la vida y ya. B: ¿Y usted? A: Aquí en la plaza. Es más chico y se ve mejor. B: ¿Y el pozole? A: Desde las nueve de la mañana. FAQ: Q: What is el Grito? A: The annual reenactment of the shout that started Mexico's independence, held on the night of September 15. The president rings a bell, shouts ¡Viva México!, and the crowd answers back. Q: Is el Grito on September 15 or 16? A: The night of the 15th. September 16 is Independence Day itself, with a military parade, but the celebration happens the evening before and runs past midnight. Q: What does the president actually say? A: A roll of independence heroes, each answered with ¡Viva!, then ¡Viva México! three times. Names get added and dropped between administrations - recent ones have added vivas to women and to indigenous women. Q: Did Porfirio Díaz move the Grito to the 15th for his birthday? A: No, though he was born that day. Mexicans were celebrating on the night of the 15th from the 1820s and the ceremony was already at eleven at night by 1840. It is a víspera - the eve is the party, like Christmas Eve. Díaz formalized it and brought the Dolores bell to the National Palace. Q: What does ¡Viva México, cabrones! mean? A: Long live Mexico, you bastards - shouted affectionately after the official vivas, in the square and at home. It is the most quoted line of the night and it belongs to that night only. Q: What is dar el grito? A: Celebrating it. ¿Dónde vas a dar el grito? just means where are you spending the night - it is not restricted to officials. Pegar un grito is to actually shout, and échame un grito means give me a call. Q: Is el Grito the same as Cinco de Mayo? A: No, and this is the most common mix-up. Cinco de Mayo marks a battle at Puebla in 1862 and is a modest holiday in Mexico. Independence is September. Q: What did Hidalgo actually shout in 1810? A: Nobody knows. No record was made at the time, and the versions in circulation were written down much later. The modern shout is a ceremony rather than a quotation. Q: What do Mexicans eat for el Grito? A: Pozole is the standard. September is also chiles en nogada season - the dish carrying the three colors of the flag, available for a few weeks and then gone. Q: Do you have to go to the Zócalo? A: No. Every town and every borough holds its own, and plenty of families do a version at home. Most chilangos will tell you to do the Zócalo once, then switch to a plaza. Related words: chela, relajo, comida-corrida, echarse-un-taco, desmadre