HISD JROTC Photo Album
| September 16, 2006 |
| Fiestas Patrias Parade |
 |  |  |  |
FIESTAS PATRIAS
Rebeca Anne Todd Koenig
In Texas and throughout the Southwest, Mexican Americans annually celebrate Mexican national holidays
referred to as the fiestas patrias. The celebrations originated in Mexico in the nineteenth century. Diez y Seis
de Septiembre (September 16), commemorates Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla's grito de Dolores ("cry of
Dolores") on September 16, 1810, at the village of Dolores, near Guanajuato. Hidalgo called for the end of
Spanish rule in Mexico. On September 16, 1825, the Republic of Mexico officially declared Diez y Seis de
Septiembre it’s national Independence Day.
The first fiestas patrias were held in Texas in the early 1820s. They included festivities that involved special
music, songs, dances, native cuisine, costumes, and homage to folk heroes. In these celebrations Tejanos
displayed and preserved their ethnicity. Diez y Seis celebrations persisted in Texas from 1825 through the
period of the republic and into the post-Civil War years. In Houston the celebrations began in the 1920s, when
the Hispanic population grew large enough to require a Mexican consulate. During the late 1960s, Juan
Coronado was instrumental in making the annual parade down Houston's Main Street on September 16 a
permanent event. By 2004 the Houston Fiestas Patrias had evolved into a series of events held throughout the
month of September, including pageants for young Hispanic ladies aged five through twenty-four. The fiestas
patrias, like Juneteenth, are traditional celebrations rooted in historic events and devoted to preserving the
multiethnic life of Texas.
Rebeca Anne Todd Koenig
In Texas and throughout the Southwest, Mexican Americans annually celebrate Mexican national holidays
referred to as the fiestas patrias. The celebrations originated in Mexico in the nineteenth century. Diez y Seis
de Septiembre (September 16), commemorates Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla's grito de Dolores ("cry of
Dolores") on September 16, 1810, at the village of Dolores, near Guanajuato. Hidalgo called for the end of
Spanish rule in Mexico. On September 16, 1825, the Republic of Mexico officially declared Diez y Seis de
Septiembre it’s national Independence Day.
The first fiestas patrias were held in Texas in the early 1820s. They included festivities that involved special
music, songs, dances, native cuisine, costumes, and homage to folk heroes. In these celebrations Tejanos
displayed and preserved their ethnicity. Diez y Seis celebrations persisted in Texas from 1825 through the
period of the republic and into the post-Civil War years. In Houston the celebrations began in the 1920s, when
the Hispanic population grew large enough to require a Mexican consulate. During the late 1960s, Juan
Coronado was instrumental in making the annual parade down Houston's Main Street on September 16 a
permanent event. By 2004 the Houston Fiestas Patrias had evolved into a series of events held throughout the
month of September, including pageants for young Hispanic ladies aged five through twenty-four. The fiestas
patrias, like Juneteenth, are traditional celebrations rooted in historic events and devoted to preserving the
multiethnic life of Texas.