September 16: the day the city gets on its feet

September 16 is not just another public holiday. It is the day Mexico City stands up: the Zócalo fills from the early morning and, for a few hours, the whole country seems to be in the same square. And yes: there is a Grito, a chorus, a flag and a lot of people hugging.

Where

• The balcony of the National Palace. From there the Grito is led, in Plaza de la Constitución. You get let in at a particular entrance, and the square fills long before eleven.
• The Zócalo floor. The square becomes the living room of the night of the 15th: flags, families and children asleep on a tarp.
• Paseo de la Reforma. The military parade on the morning of the 16th.
• Campo Marte. The military parade starts and ends there, up close.
• The Ángel de la Independencia, in the middle of Reforma.
• Moneda and Allende. Where the 15th becomes a neighbourhood party, not only protocol.

What to do

1. The Grito, on the night of the 15th, at eleven. The band plays the anthem and the crowd shouts "¡Viva México!" along with whoever is presiding. Get there early.
2. The parade on the 16th in the morning: the standards, the units and the schoolchildren in their first-grade uniform.
3. The flag-raising ceremony: the square before dawn, with the band playing and everyone else quiet.
4. The pavilions and the stalls where the street invents a place to eat.
5. The Zócalo by day, when the square changes and the children fall asleep on the tarp.
6. The night of the 15th anywhere else: the party moves to the terraces and the parks.

What to eat

• Pozole, with its lettuce, onion and lime. The dish of the date, eaten early, before the parade.
• Tlacoyos, blue corn with beans, the real ones from the south.
• Tamales, or the sweet ones, which in the south are another thing.
• Esquites and elotes, grilled on the street, with lime, cheese and chile.
• Aguas frescas and horchata, and a concha or a maracaná for the sweet.
• Atole de cajeta for whoever gets up at four to watch the flag.

Understanding Mexicans

The Grito is not a speech: it is an act. It has been performed in the same place and the same way since the nineteenth century, and the crowd knows the moment it comes. That is why the whole square shouts on the same second: it is not a spectacle you watch, it is one you step into.

And the 16th is a family day. Whoever stayed in the city goes back to their town or their grandparents' house, and the meal is the one that has been made for decades. The parade is the public part; the meal is the private one. And they are the same holiday.

Why it matters at Amaxing

Because the best stories in a city are the ones where something actually happened. The 16th is one of them, and it is also the date on which the country remembers that independence was a collective act. That is why it stays pinned at Amaxing: this is not a recommendation, it is a calendar.

Note: the stage, the entrances, the time of the Grito and the parade route change every year. Check with the Mexico City government and the military zone before you go.