In Paris, July 14th is not just a national holiday, it’s a big open-air show.
This year, the tradition got a futuristic update, mixing military honors with a drone ballet.
At 10 a.m., the Champs-Élysées fill with uniforms: soldiers, horses, armored vehicles… everything is organized like a fashion runway.
The Patrouille de France flies over, painting the sky with tricolor smoke that makes people raise their eyes and their phones.
At night, the Champ-de-Mars swapped loud fireworks for 1,000 glowing drones.
A perfect choreography, no noise pollution, and a touch of AI to control the show.
The night before, firefighters open the doors of their fire stations for the famous Firefighters’ Ball.
If you’re wondering what France celebrates on July 14th, it’s simple :
The Storming of the Bastille (July 14th, 1789) and the Festival of the Federation (July 14th, 1790).
Since 1880, France celebrates both events as key moments in its history.
This is how the national holiday is lived in France.