Mexico has celebrated the 200th anniversary of its independence with a huge parade in Mexico City
Across the capital hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets to join the parade of floats, dancers and musicians
"The Colossus" is transported in front of the Fine Arts Palace
Women wear masks representing "La Catrina"
The city spent $40 million on the fiesta which was two years in the making and drew people from across the country to the main Reforma Avenue and Zocalo Square
Women wear dresses in the colours of the flag and dance on stilts
An actress performs during the opening ceremony
A festival goer floats by the Angel of Independence
Locals dressed up for the event
Dressed as indigenous men on horseback
Actors perform
The festivities were a welcome change for a country that most recently has seen car bombs, the assassination of a gubernatorial candidate, and the massacre of 72 migrants who refused to smuggle drugs for a brutal gang
President Felipe Caldero, pictured with his family, capped the evening by ringing the original independence bell from a balcony in the Zocalo square and delivering "El Grito," patterned on founding father Miguel Hidalgo's 1810 call to arms against Spain: "Long live independence. Long live the bicentennial ... Long live Mexico!"
In cities where drug violence is heaviest, festivities were more subdued. The grito was cancelled in Ciudad Juarez for the first time in its history. People still showed their patriotism in the border city — Mexico's most violent — by hanging Mexican flags from their roofs and hosting family dinners.
Dancers parade down the street dressed as devils
A dancer dressed as a bouquet of flowers
Dummies representing Mexican revolutionaries
The Zocalo plaza and Metropolitan cathedral were illuminated for the evening's events
Fireworks explode in the city
An illuminated mannequin of "La Catrina"
Acrobats form the word Mexico during celebrations
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