Among the most moving and jubilant holidays around the world are those that celebrate great moments in a nation?s history. Book a Mexico Vacation Villa Rental in Puerto Vallarta in mid-September and you will have an opportunity to take part in a series of special events that commemorate Mexico?s successful bid for independence from Spain in 1810. Their victory was a hard one, and they recognize it with gusto.

El Grito de Dolores
It took the Spanish Crown nearly three centuries, but by the early 1800s, it had managed to put together a record of human relations that was remarkable for its failures. On 16 September 1810, in response to Spanish mistreatment of indigenous people and those of mixed blood, the parish priest in the village of Dolores in central Mexico rang his church bells and called his followers to revolt. His cry (grito), ?Mexicanos, viva Mexico!? (?Mexicans, long live Mexico!?) became the movement?s rallying call.

The story of the Mexican revolution isn?t pretty, and history tells us that Father Hidalgo soon regretted his role in it. Nonetheless, the priest was and is recognized as a leader and hero of the revolution. The Mexican patriots continued their fight for more than a decade under the banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a native patron saint depicted as a woman of color, and Father Hidalgo?s ?Cry of Dolores? before they won their cause.

Celebration in the Streets
Cinco de Mayo has become something of a national holiday in the southwestern United States, much like St. Patrick?s Day in the Northeast. That date isn?t nearly as important in Mexico as Las Fiestas Patrias, Mexican Independence Days, which fall on 15 and 16 September. Every year at 11:00 p.m. on 15 September, the President of Mexico leads his countrymen in Father Hidalgos? cry, ?Mexicanos, viva Mexico!? The next day is a day of official ceremonies and military parades, bullfights, rodeos and dancing in the streets.

In Puerto Vallarta, the celebration starts on the 15th in the Plaza Principal and along the Malec