Grito Fest — the survival guide

Grito Fest is Baytown's biggest night of the year: the Mexican Independence Day celebration downtown, a headliner on the main stage, and five or six thousand people on Texas Avenue who all had the same idea about parking.

This year: Grito Fest is Saturday, October 3, with De Parranda on the main stage. The Pre-Grito Party is Friday, October 2, at Town Square, hosted by the ACE Council.

Parking. Don't drive into downtown after 5 pm Saturday; the streets close. Park at Lee College and walk the ten minutes, or come in on the north side and park on a side street off Main. If you're in a hotel on Garth, a rideshare in is cheap and a rideshare out at midnight is not; walk to the college lot to meet your ride.

Eat before, not during. The food vendors are good and the lines are an hour. Bocanegra's or Black Bayou at four, then walk in.

The grito itself is at the top of the hour before the headliner. Be at the main stage twenty minutes early or you'll hear it from a block away.

Kids: it's a family event until about nine, and a very loud concert after. Bring ear protection for anyone under six.

Weather: early October is still ninety degrees at six. Water, a hat, and a place to sit that isn't the curb.