Main Street, Latinos Unidos will host first-ever Fiesta Patrias

Gonzales Main Street is joining forces with Latinos Unidos to sponsor the first-ever Fiestas Patrias in downtown Gonzales next month.

The free event is scheduled for 3 p.m. to midnight Saturday, Sept. 14, at 332 Saint George St. and is being billed as an opportunity to help promote education in the community.

There will be live music, a kid zone, a farmer's market, food vendors, a queen coronation, mariachis and a special performance by Come And Take It Dance students at 4:30 p.m.

There will be free live music from a DJ all day, along with a performance from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. by Clint Taft & Buck Wild Band and a 9 p.m. to midnight performance by Nuevo Camino.

In addition to Gonzales Main Street, sponsors include Eri’s Snacks y Mas, Honky Tonk Barber Shop and Covert Hutto.

Fiesta Patrias translates to Patriotic Holidays in Mexico and refers to one of five public holidays which are celebrated. The timing of this particular fiesta coincides with the Grito de Dolores and the Diez y Seis Anniversary of Mexican independence from Spain.

It commemorates Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla’s Grito de Dolores, which took place on Sept. 16, 1810, in the village of Dolores near Guanajuato, when the priest rang his church’s bells and called for an end to Spanish rule in Mexico. Mexican Independence Day is typically celebrated from the evening of Sept. 15 through Sept. 16.