El Grito de Independencia 2026 — Olvera Street, Los Angeles

“September 15, Olvera Street. The oldest street in Los Angeles,…”

On the evening of September 15, Olvera Street does what it has done for decades: it becomes the place where Los Angeles honors the moment Mexico chose to be free. The Grito de Independencia — the cry that launched the 1810 revolution — is reenacted at midnight. Before that, the plaza fills with mariachi, regional dance, food, and a crowd that has been planning this night since spring.

Olvera Street is the oldest street in Los Angeles. The buildings on it predate the United States flag by decades. The Mexican Independence Day celebration here isn't a cultural performance for tourists — it is the community using the street it has always used, marking the date that matters, in the way it has always been marked.

The mariachi starts in the early evening. The formal ceremony and the grito itself happen around midnight. The crowd that fills El Pueblo includes families who have come every year for three generations.

125 Paseo de la Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Free to attend. The parking structures nearby fill early — plan accordingly. September 15 into the early hours of September 16.