La Arrolladora Banda El Limón de René Camacho will be in charge of entertaining the patriotic celebrations in Mexico. The legendary Sinaloan band will arrive at the capital’s Zócalo, the country’s most important public square, on Sept. 15 for the Grito de Independencia, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Tuesday (Sep. 2).
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“Let’s see the surprise for September 15,” said the Mexican president during her usual morning press conference to announce this year’s invited group through a video.
This year, the traditional Grito de Dolores from the National Palace, where President Sheinbaum lives and works, will be doubly symbolic because it is the first time that a woman has led the ceremony as the head of state of the Latin American country. This act emulates the call for insurrection against Spanish rule that priest Miguel Hidalgo made in the early hours of Sept. 16, 1810, in Guanajuato.
Opening for La Arrolladora will be the group Legado de Grandeza, a Mexican-American collective that performs the “Himno Migrante” (meaning “Migrant Anthem”), honoring the inspiring stories of Mexican migrants in the United States. Mexican singer and actress Alejandra Ávalos will also perform, according to the official lineup.
La Arrolladora Banda El Limón thus joins a long list of national and international artists who have performed at the world’s second-largest public square, surpassed only by Tiananmen in Beijing.
The Zócalo has hosted artists such as Paul McCartney, Justin Bieber, Manu Chao, Shakira, Rosalía, Café Tacvba, Fito Páez and the late icon of Mexican regional music Vicente Fernández, among many others. This coming Saturday (Sep. 6), Puerto Rican rapper Residente will join that select list when he performs a concert at the same venue.
The record for attendance at free concerts held in Mexico City’s main square, known as the “Primer Cuadro,” is held by the Argentine rock band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, who achieved the milestone of gathering 300,000 people on the night of June 3, 2023. This surpassed Grupo Firme, who previously set the record by drawing 280,000 attendees in September 2022, according to figures from Mexico City’s government.
This past March, La Arrolladora Banda El Limón earned their 19th No. 1 on Billboard‘s Regional Mexican Airplay chart with their hit “Una Historia Mal Contada” from the album of the same name.