France’s national holiday, celebrated with a military parade on the Champs-Élysées, is Bastille Day.
The holiday is officially called the French National Day, or la fête nationale. It is observed on 14 July and commemorates two events: the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris in 1789 and the Festival of the Federation held on the same date in 1790. The Bastille’s capture became a powerful symbol of the French Revolution.
The Paris military parade is one of the world’s oldest and best-known annual national-day parades. It traditionally proceeds along the Champs-Élysées toward the Arc de Triomphe, with aircraft often flying overhead. Fireworks, concerts and public dances are also common across France.
A common mix-up is calling the holiday simply “Bastille Day” in French. French speakers generally use fête nationale, while the English name emphasizes the revolutionary event associated with the Bastille.