On Friday, Sept. 5, Springfield is the place to party. The Hispanic Heritage Celebration is at Springfield City Hall from 5 pm to 10 pm. Musicians, dancers and entertainers from Mexico will perform throughout the evening, with the highlight being the El Grito ceremony. “El Grito” translates to “The Shout,” and it is a celebration that honors Mexico’s independence with music and dance. When the celebration occurs in Mexico, elected officials conduct the ceremony, so at the Hispanic Heritage Celebration, diplomats from the council of Mexico participate instead. Along with the evening’s entertainment, the celebration also features plenty of traditional Mexican food, leather workshops, tabling from various organizations, children’s activities and more. “It is a great opportunity, especially for younger generations to witness, experience and participate in culturally relevant activities related to their own cultural heritage,” organizer Antonio Huerta says. “They can see themselves represented in language and culture, and it will hopefully inspire youth to embrace their heritage and to embrace their language.” Springfield’s The Block Party shares the celebratory weekend in Springfield. Downtown Springfield shuts down for a completely free festival with live music, art exhibitions, bouncy houses and 140 vendors across seven city blocks. The party started in 2019, and every year has been bigger than the last — 2024 saw about 10,000 people, with only 90-ish vendors and six city blocks. Organizer Benjamin Wilkinson isn’t even sure how many more people can fit in downtown Springfield, but with all of the new additions and space, he’s eager to see. “Everybody’s happy to be here,” he says. “We’re all just happy to be here because we love Springfield so much.” He says this year, he’s most excited for two things. The first one being “more people, more businesses, more groups that want to be a part of Springfield. It’s just about representing little bits of the community that one night a year,” he says. The second one, “we have a mechanical bull. I could not be more excited for the mechanical bull competition that starts at seven o’clock.”

The Hispanic Heritage Celebration is 5 pm to 10 pm at Springfield City Hall, 225 5th Street. Springfield’s The Block Party is 4 pm to 10 pm, Friday, Sept. 5 in Downtown Springfield. Free. For map and more information visit SpringfieldBlockParty.com.