* IN YOU BEEN SNAP BLOG * Stunning pictures of hundreds of teenage girls marching through the streets of Mexico City in ball gowns for mass 'Quinceanera'

*MKILETEWA HAPA NA MISS FB FLORA BAHATI LYIMO*

Hundreds of girls celebrating their fifteenth birthdays attended a mass ‘Quinceañera’ celebration in Mexico City yesterday.

Every year, the mayor of the Mexican capital hosts a ‘coming of age’ celebration to which he invites girls from the city, a tradition dating back to the Spanish colonial era when girls had their official debut in society at the ages of 15 and 16.

It marks the transition from childhood to adulthood and is common in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries.

Party: Fifteen-year-old girls pose for a group picture at the Franz Mayer museum before a mass 'Quinceanera' birthday celebration in Mexico City on Saturday, April 28, 2012;

Coming of age: Girls dressed in evening gowns pose for a photograph at the Monument of the Angel of Independence;

Happy: Girls dressed in evening gowns pose for photographs at Zocalo square in Mexico City during the rite-of-passage party;

Bright: The birthday girls posed by monuments while holding umbrellas in a rainbow of colours, lighting up the dreary day;

Monumental: Hundreds of girls dressed up for their fifteenth (Quinceanera) birthday celebrations, a tradition dating back to the Spanish colonial era;

On Saturday, 348 teenagers descended on the capital, lighting up the somewhat dreary day with their colourful ball gowns.
Each girl teamed her elaborate dress with a sparkling tiara, and had her make up done especially for the occasion.

Revelry: Girls dressed in evening gowns gesture at the Monument of the Angel of Independence during their fifteenth birthday celebrations;