PARIS – With warplanes soaring, warriors wielding axes, a drone light display over the Eiffel Tower, and fireworks across nearly all French towns — it must be Bastille Day.
On Monday, France is marking its largest holiday with 7,000 participants either marching, on horseback, or in armored vehicles along the Champs-Elysees’ famous cobblestones in Paris, accompanied by nationwide festivities and pageantry.
Why Bastille Day is a big deal
The Bastille fortress and prison were stormed by Parisians on July 14, 1789, sparking the French Revolution that ended the monarchy. Over the following 200 years, France experienced the rise and fall of Napoleon’s empire, further uprisings, and two world wars before transitioning into the current Fifth Republic in 1958.
Bastille Day has become a central moment for modern France, celebrating democratic freedoms and national pride, a mélange of revolutionary spirit and military prowess.
The Paris parade beneath the Arc de Triomphe so impressed visiting U.S. President Donald Trump in 2017 that it inspired him to stage his own parade this year.
What to watch for
The spectacle begins on the ground, with French President Emmanuel Macron reviewing the troops and relighting the eternal flame beneath the Arc de Triomphe.
Each parade uniform has a touch of symbolism. The contingent from the French Foreign Legion is eye-catching, its bearded troops wearing leather aprons and carrying axes, a reference to their original role as route clearers for advancing armies.
The Paris event includes flyovers by fighter jets, trailing red, white and blue smoke. Then the evening sees a drone light show and fireworks at the Eiffel Tower that has gotten more elaborate every year.
What’s special about this year
Every year, France hosts a special guest for Bastille Day, and this year it’s Indonesia, with President Prabowo Subianto representing the world’s biggest Muslim country, which also a major Asian economic and military player.
Indonesian troops, including 200 drummers, are marching in Monday’s parade, and Indonesia is expected to confirm new purchases of Rafale fighter jets and other French military equipment during the visit. Prabowo, who was accused of rights abuses under Indonesia’s prior dictatorship, will be treated to a special holiday dinner at the Elysée Palace.
Finnish troops serving in the U.N. force in Lebanon and Belgian and Luxembourg troops serving in a NATO force in Romania will also parade through Paris, reflecting the increasingly international nature of the event.
Among the dignitaries invited to watch will be Fousseynou Samba Cisse, who rescued two babies from a burning apartment earlier this month and received a last-minute invitation in a phone call from Macron himself.
What’s the geopolitical backdrop
Beyond the military spectacle in Paris are growing concerns about an uncertain world. On the eve Bastille Day, Macron announced 6.5 billion euros ($7.6 billion) in extra French military spending in the next two years because of new threats ranging from Russia to terrorism and online attacks. The French leader called for intensified efforts to protect Europe and support for Ukraine.
‘’Since 1945, our freedom has never been so threatened, and never so seriously,″ Macron said. ’’We are experiencing a return to the fact of a nuclear threat, and a proliferation of major conflicts.″
What else happens on Bastille Day
It’s a period when France bestows special awards — including the most prestigious, the Legion of Honor — on notable people. This year’s recipients include Gisele Pelicot, who became a global hero to victims of sexual violence during a four-month trial in which her husband and dozens of men were convicted of sexually assaulting her while she was drugged unconscious.
Bastille Day is also a time for family gatherings, firefighters’ balls and rural festivals around France.
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