By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
Del Rio citizens gathered at San Felipe’s Brown Plaza this week to celebrate Mexico’s Independence Day with food, games and performances.
Locally, the dieciseis de septiembre celebration is a three-day festival honoring Mexico’s independence from Spain. The event is annually held in historic Brown Plaza located in South Del Rio. The festivities started Wednesday with a night parade at the intersection of San Felipe and Garza streets.
The festival was put together by the Brown Plaza Association, which holds annual events in South Del Rio. Priscilla Martinez, president of the Brown Plaza Association, said her organization caters to events held in the San Felipe area. She said Del Rio celebrates the cultural holiday because the majority of the city’s population is from Mexico.
“We like to celebrate (in Del Rio) because we are so close to the border, and people that can’t cross or who would rather stay to celebrate can get together here,” Martinez said.
Martinez said their main traditions are the coronation of Miss Diez Y Seis de Septembre and El Grito de Delores, a tribute to the battle cry for Mexico’s rebellion in 1810, which was rejoiced Thursday night. Other activities at the festival included a costume contest with a heroes theme and a fashion show showcasing a history of Mexican dresses.
The festival gave locals the opportunity to sell fresh food and toys to honor Mexico’s heritage. Nohely Hernandez, local vendor, sold Mexican dishes including gorditas, burritos and tacos tapatios at their booth called Antojitos “Las Comadres.” She said her friends began a year ago selling food at the festivals in Brown Plaza and have enjoyed it ever since.
“We’ve had a lot of people come out and visit us, and it’s still early, but lots of customers come by and try our food,” Hernandez said.
The festival also brought in vendors who traveled from outside of Del Rio to sell food. Vendor Jackie Campbell said her booth, the Campbell’s Family Concession, is from Poteet and travels annually to be a part of the events in Brown Plaza. She said their booths perform really well and the locals support them a lot.
Martinez said the festival is always changing so it can accommodate more people to show up and include various events. She said the Brown Plaza Association aims to continue having their festivals be celebrated in the San Felipe area. The festival ends Friday with performances by musicians David Marez and Sunny Sauceda.
