NEW YORK—Crepes, feathered boas, and can-canning ladies in black-and-white striped shirts took over 60th Street between Fifth and Lexington avenues on Sunday afternoon. It was a celebration of all things French in honor of Bastille Day.
Bastille Day is actually on July 14 and is called La Fête Nationale (the National Celebration) or le quatorze juillet (the 14th of July) in France. On July 14, 1789, an uprising stormed the Bastille fortress-prison in Paris, a symbol of King Louis XVI’s power. The event marked the beginning of the French Revolution.
“We celebrate the joy of the real people, not the aristocrats,” said French comedian Arnaud Collery, who has been living in New York for a year. He added that for him this patriotic sentiment is tempered by a feeling that it is actually the aristocrats and the elites who are still in power. While the French remember the uprising, the day has become more of a cultural celebration than a political one, he noted.
“In France, when we celebrate Bastille Day, … we have ‘bal’ all over. At a ‘bal’ people stay up until two or three in the morning dancing, and there’s music playing all night,” Collery described. It was his first Bastille Day celebration in America.
The French-American celebration on 60th Street consisted of tents lining three blocks, selling French books, lessons, trips, cosmetics, French and French-African cuisine, and, of course, lots of pastries.
On Independence Day, New Yorkers celebrated American culture with Coney Island’s hot-dog eating competition. During Bastille Day festivities, the French nibbled éclairs and crème brûlée while sipping espresso.
Collery longed for the leisurely dining common in his homeland: Friends gather in the early evening to start with an aperitif, and cooking, eating, and merriment continue late into the night.
The French ambassadors to the United States and the United Nations, together with the Consul General of France in New York, will host the Bastille Day Ball on July 14. It has been a New York tradition since 1924. According to Gerard Epelbaum of the Committee of French Speaking Societies, New York has a French community of about 100,000.
Bastille Day is actually on July 14 and is called La Fête Nationale (the National Celebration) or le quatorze juillet (the 14th of July) in France. On July 14, 1789, an uprising stormed the Bastille fortress-prison in Paris, a symbol of King Louis XVI’s power. The event marked the beginning of the French Revolution.
“We celebrate the joy of the real people, not the aristocrats,” said French comedian Arnaud Collery, who has been living in New York for a year. He added that for him this patriotic sentiment is tempered by a feeling that it is actually the aristocrats and the elites who are still in power. While the French remember the uprising, the day has become more of a cultural celebration than a political one, he noted.
“In France, when we celebrate Bastille Day, … we have ‘bal’ all over. At a ‘bal’ people stay up until two or three in the morning dancing, and there’s music playing all night,” Collery described. It was his first Bastille Day celebration in America.
The French-American celebration on 60th Street consisted of tents lining three blocks, selling French books, lessons, trips, cosmetics, French and French-African cuisine, and, of course, lots of pastries.
On Independence Day, New Yorkers celebrated American culture with Coney Island’s hot-dog eating competition. During Bastille Day festivities, the French nibbled éclairs and crème brûlée while sipping espresso.
Collery longed for the leisurely dining common in his homeland: Friends gather in the early evening to start with an aperitif, and cooking, eating, and merriment continue late into the night.
The French ambassadors to the United States and the United Nations, together with the Consul General of France in New York, will host the Bastille Day Ball on July 14. It has been a New York tradition since 1924. According to Gerard Epelbaum of the Committee of French Speaking Societies, New York has a French community of about 100,000.
