About Bastille Day
Bastille Day, on 14 July, is the national day of France and commemorates the storming of the Bastille fortress prison in Paris on 14 July 1789 — the symbolic opening act of the French Revolution. The Bastille held only seven prisoners that morning, but its capture by an armed crowd shattered royal authority and marked the moment the revolution became irreversible. A year later, on 14 July 1790, the Fête de la Fédération was held on the Champ-de-Mars to celebrate the new constitutional monarchy and national unity. The 1790 anniversary as much as the 1789 storming gives the day its dual character: revolution and republican concord. Made the national day by law in 1880, the formal French name is simply la Fête nationale or le 14 Juillet.
The day opens with a military parade down the Champs-Élysées in Paris, the oldest and largest regular military parade in Europe, dating to 1880. The president reviews the troops; aircraft of the Patrouille de France trail blue-white-red smoke over the Arc de Triomphe. Fireworks over the Eiffel Tower at 11 pm draw hundreds of thousands to the Champ-de-Mars and the Trocadéro. The night before, on 13 July, firefighters open their stations across France for the bals des pompiers — community dances that run until dawn. Town halls everywhere hold their own parades, public meals and dances. La Marseillaise is sung everywhere. Shops, banks and offices are closed; trains and the métro run on a holiday schedule. Diplomatic delegations are received at the Élysée Palace in the afternoon.