French National Day - Bastille Day: 14 July 2020

French National Day - Bastille Day: 14 July 2020 - parade for health workers

Annually, the National Day of France (Fête nationale) or the French National Day occurs on 14 July. It is also referred to as Bastille Day. It commemorates the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 during the French Revolution and the unity of the French people on 14 July 1790. The day became a public holiday in 1880.

In 2020, the French National Day parade has been cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. In lieu of the parade, there will be a ceremony to pay tribute to health workers, and associated workers, fighting the Coronavirus pandemic.

There will be a small ceremony (not open to the public) at the Place de la Concorde, instead of the parade along the Champs-Elysees, where it has traditionally taken place since the first World War. Participants from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Luxembourg have been invited to attend the event in gratitude for accepting and treating Covid-19 patients in their hospitals to ease the burden of hospitals across France.

The traditional fly-past will still occur, as will the fireworks, and smaller celebrations around the city.

This year, 2020, will also pay tribute to former French president Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970) who died 50 years ago on 9 November.

MARTINA NICOLLS

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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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