Despite that this weekend's Mexican Independence Day events coincide with the third anniversary of a national tragedy, organizers of Denver's major "El Grito" celebrations - two highlighting culture and a third honoring food - decided going forward with tradition is the best way of looking back.

"This is a celebration of the anniversary of an historic cry for freedom. It's also an expression of goodwill and unity," said Pauline Madrid-Johnson with NEWSED, the agency behind Denver's traditional Mexican Independence Day festival on Santa Fe Drive.

"It's important to remember the (Sept. 11 terrorist attacks) in our hearts," she said. "But we felt strongly that we should go on with our festival."


So instead of deferring a cultural affair that ranks among the most significant for Mexican-Americans - the annual recognition of Father Miguel Hidalgo's 1810 rallying cry for Mexican independence - NEWSED opted to observe a moment of silence Saturday during its west Denver El Grito festival. The event continues Sunday.

Last year's El Grito festival drew roughly 75,000 people to Santa Fe Drive between Eighth and 11th avenues, according to NEWSED. This year's party touts the same food, music and vendors, but organizers expect attendance to be even higher.

If, that is, festivalgoers don't confuse NEWSED's popular grassroots celebration with "Fiestas Patrias," another Mexican Independence Day celebration at the Civic Center this weekend. This second party is spearheaded by Univision Colorado and expected to draw 50,000 attendees.

"Mexican-Americans continue to have very, very close links with their ancestors," said Jorge Pinto, a Pace University professor, about the popularity of El Grito parties north of the border. Pinto is the former Mexican consul general to New York.

"There's a sense of belonging," he said about Latinos in the U.S. honoring Mexican Independence Day. "It's an ideal situation, to remember your origins and to be in an independent nation."

Waving the Mexican flag and dancing to music by the likes of Banda Original Autentica de Jerez Zacatecas and Yolanda Perez is part of nearly all El Grito parties. But the humble chile will steal the spotlight at the Denver Botanic Gardens this weekend. Its Chile Harvest Festival 2004 is co-sponsored by the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council. This year's installment features eats from Rosa Linda's Cafe and Jack & Grill, and aims to honor chile use throughout Spanish-speaking countries.

Albuquerque chile expert Dave Dewitt wrote the book about history and the delectable green, yellow and red pod.

"Chile is more than just food," said Dewitt, author of "The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia" (William Morrow, 1999). "It's sort of a warm, fuzzy thing, like the Garfield of plants."

Besides being used to cook and decorate, chiles have become synonymous with socializing and welcoming people into your home. "There are chile pepper underpants, for heaven's sake," Dewitt said.

The food palette that Spanish conquistadors discovered in Mexico, where producing chiles was once deemed a tribute to Aztec royalty, included many of the same varieties served on today's American tables, according to Dewitt. But chiles also have been used to ward off evil spirits, fumigate pests, dress wounds, treat baldness and ease arthritis.

"Chiles were in existence when human beings first came to the Americas, however and whenever they came," Dewitt said. "They were very much a part of the life, food, agriculture and trade of the Aztecs, and the Mayas before them."