DeKALB | Latino fever hits DeKalb with a celebration of El Grito to begin Latino Heritage Month.

El Grito is the celebration of Mexican Independence Day and is hosted by Alpha Psi Lambda coed fraternity. The words El Grito translate to “the shout” in Spanish.

“The celebration is named El Grito because people in Mexico yell out ‘Viva Mexico’ to commemorate Mexican Independence from Spanish rule, and we thought this would be appropriate to call the kick-off of Latino Heritage Month.” said Emily Prieto, Latino Resource Center director.

The Latino Resource Center of NIU is hosting the El Grito celebration from 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday. The event is free and open to the public.

“Everyone is welcome to come,” said Lisa Huerta, senior Spanish major and Alpha Psi Lambda president. “Different ethnicities come every year. We’ll even have contests to see who can eat the hottest salsa.”

The El Grito celebration will also have attractions to draw a crowd.

“Usually we get a huge turn out,” Huerta said. “This year we are expecting even more because are going to have a banda playing. This is a Mexican-styled band that has trumpets, clarinets, a piano, singer and drums.”

There are also other celebrations taking place in DeKalb to honor Latino Heritage month.

The Conexion Comunidad will be host the 8th annual Fiesta from 2 to 8 p.m Sept. 24 at the Van Buer Plaza, on the corner of Second and Locust Streets, according to www.dekalb.org.

“We, along with NIU, have celebrations for Latino heritage month,” said Kristina Garcia, Conexion Comunidad board president. “We pushed our celebration back a week to not interfere with NIU’s celebration.”

There will also be food venders, music and dancing at the fiesta.

“We have a professional mariachi orchestra playing, [and] Los Cinco Magnificos performing,” Garcia said. “[Los Cinco Magnificos] are a celebratory dance group from Chicago and there will be other activities.”

The Fiesta is held not only for fun but also to raise funds.

“All of the profits go to provide services within the community,” Garcia said. “We partner with various organizations like [Kishwaukee] College to help the member of the community.”