Cruz Roja | View From Casita Colibrí

Posts Tagged ‘Cruz Roja’

Independence Day, Oaxaca style

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged Charros, Cruz Roja, Día de la Independencia, desfile, drummers, El Mes de la Patria, equestrians, Escaramuza, Grito de Dolores, Himno Nacional Mexicana, horses, Mexican Independence Day, Mexican National Anthem, Mexico, military, nurses, Oaxaca, parade, photos, popular travel destinations, students on September 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Tonight, El Grito de Dolores, also known as El Grito de la Independencia (the Shout of Independence), will echo from the balconies of government buildings throughout Mexico. Mayors, governors, and La Presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, Mexico’s first female president, will re-enact Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla’s 1810 call to arms (with a lot of improvisation) that announced the start of a ten-year long war for independence from Spain. Bells will chime, the flag will be waved, the Himno Naciónal will play, fireworks will explode, and the gathered crowd will, no doubt, be bursting with pride. Tomorrow, September 16, Día de la Independencia, patriotic parades will take over the major streets of cities and towns of Mexico.

However, this year, l’m in el norte and won’t be standing on a sidewalk in Oaxaca watching the parade pass me by. These photos from Mexican Independence Day 2023 of marching bands, forestry students, search and rescue organizations, nurses, military, police, and more will have to suffice. (Click on images to enlarge.)

To close the parade, my favorites, escaramuzas and charros riding their magnificent horses.

¡Viva México! ¡Viva Oaxaca! Hope to see you soon.

Read Full Post »

Celebrating independence

Posted in Celebrations, History, Holidays, Travel & Tourism, tagged Asociación de Charros de Oaxaca, bomberos, camouflage paint, Cruz Roja, desfile, drummers, equestrians, firefighters, horses, José María Morelos y Pavón, Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, Mexican Independence Day, Mexico, military, Oaxaca, Palacio de Gobierno, parade, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations, Red Cross on September 17, 2015| 11 Comments »

September 16, 2015 marked the 205th anniversary of the beginning of Mexico’s fight for independence from Spain. Like all such occasions worldwide, it was celebrated with patriotic parades. Here in the city of Oaxaca, civic and military contingents marched from the corner of 20 de noviembre and Trujano, passed the Government Palace, east on Guerrero, then north on Pino Suarez, to wind up at Paseo Juárez (aka, Llano Park).

Oaxaca’s Palacio de Gobierno, with images of Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez and José María Morelos y Pavón, two of the heroes of struggle for independence.

Before you could see a contingent, you could hear it; often drums and drummers heralded the arrival of both school and military groups.

Like most patriotic parades, military and police elements dominated the civic. In Oaxaca, we are talking federal, state, and municipal, including units from the thousands of members of the Gendarmaría Nacional, who have been in town for at least a month. I do have to say, besides the usual, some of the camouflage face paint had an “only in Mexico” flair.

Spectators lined the streets along the route, but mostly reserved their applause for the bomberos (firefighters)…

Cruz Roja (Red Cross) workers, especially the canine unit and young volunteers…

and, last but not least, the riders from the Asociación de Charros de Oaxaca, who brought up the rear. I guess the thinking was to keep the streets free of horse manure until the end!