Mexican teen's 'quinceanera' birthday attracts thousands after viral invitation

Thousands of people attended the 15th birthday celebrations of a rural Mexican girl on Tuesday after her party invitation went viral.

Mexican teenager Rubi (C) during a mass accompanied by her parents in the frame of her 15th birthday party in La Joya, Mexico, 26 December 2016. Source: AAP

Girls' 15th birthday parties are often a huge deal in Latin America, where families traditionally pull out all the stops to welcome them to womanhood.

But Rubi Ibarra's 'quinceanera' party took the phenomenon to a whole new level, after a video invite became an offbeat internet sensation.

"Hi, how's it going? We would like to invite you this December 26 to our daughter Rubi Ibarra Garcia's 15th birthday party in La Joya," her dad, Crescencio, said in the video.

Dressed in a cowboy hat typical of northern Mexico, he ticks off the names of the bands that will play at the party and announced a horse race with a 10,000-peso prize (about $500), as his wife and the now-famous Rubi stood at his side.

"Everyone" is invited, he says.

More than 1.3 million Facebook users replied that they would attend, and according to various media outlets, thousands attended the party in La Joya, a village of 200 people near the city of San Luis Potosi.

Rubi Ibarra arrives at the site of a Mass that is part of her down-home 15th birthday party, surrounded by a horde of journalists and a drone flying (AAP) Source: AAP

"This all got out of control," Crescencio said in one of the many media interviews before the birthday.

"That doesn't mean we didn't want to invite everyone, of course, but here our parties are regional... This is something we weren't expecting."

Rubi has fielded numerous interview requests herself, becoming something of a national sensation with her dark hair, cute smile and braces.

General view of guests sitting at tables during the 15th birthday party of Mexican teenager Rubi, in La Joya, Mexico, 26 December 2016. (AAP) Source: AAP

An airline has meanwhile turned the commotion into free publicity, offering discount tickets to get to the party. And a video game has emerged in which a teenage girl runs down a red carpet, tossing invitations to all and sundry.

The family said they were originally expecting around 800 people for the party.

Local authorities decided to move it to a large open field and send a security detail for what Mexican media are calling "the party of the year."

Mexican teenager Rubi (C) arrives to her 15th birthday party in La Joya, Mexico, 26 December 2016. (AAP) Source: AAP

Not everyone in Mexico found it amusing, though.

"This has taken on completely scandalous proportions," said Mercedes Poire, head of the Center for Public Opinion at the Universidad Del Valle de Mexico.