City prepares for Mexican Independence celebrations with hopes of avoiding gridlock

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The city of Chicago is preparing for this weekend's Mexican Independence Day celebrations, hoping to provide space for plenty of revelry while avoiding the hours of gridlock downtown.

Vehicles driving through the Loop waving Mexican flags have become a tradition in the city around Mexican Independence Day. A year ago people even enjoyed line dancing.

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The joyous celebration in the Mexican community commemorates the end of Spanish rule in Mexico and the creation of an independent country.

But for those not celebrating, the congestion creates a big headache.

City leaders this year are hoping to avoid that, releasing a public service announcement in both English and Spanish urging everyone to celebrate responsibly. And organizers of El Grito in Grant Park are hoping the festival will give people a place to get out of their vehicles and enjoy a more traditional celebration.

"It's not representative of our culture. No where in the world do we do that in car caravans. I think it's bad for the people celebrating. It cannot be fun," said German Gonzalez, El Grito co-chair.

They were busy setting up for El Grito Thursday at Butler Field in Grant Park. The first-year festival will feature big headliners and musical talent along with plenty of Mexican food and plenty of family activities, including arts and crafts and clinics with several Chicago sports teams.

There will also be fireworks at the end of the night.

While OEMC and Chicago police are hoping the event will ease congestion downtown, they said they have a plan to restrict access to downtown if they need which includes rolling street closures which would include access points for residents or Loop employees with a driver's license or work ID.

The streets would also be open for first responders in the event of emergencies.

El Grito organizers said they realize it may take some time for the first-year event to catch on, but they have high hopes for the weekend.

"We wanted to create a safe, inclusive celebration where people could come," Gonzalez said.

The festival runs from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. They are limited to 12,000 people each day, and they are urging those people to take public transportation to ease congestion downtown