2027 Bastille Day

Bastille Day on July 14 commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789, the symbolic start of the French Revolution, and the Fête de la Fédération held on the same date a year later; it has been France's national day since 1880. The morning brings the military parade down the Champs-Élysées, the oldest and largest regular military parade in Europe, opened by a Patrouille de France flypast trailing blue, white and red smoke and reviewed by the President. In the evening a concert on the Champ de Mars precedes a large fireworks display at the Eiffel Tower, while fire stations across the country open their doors for the bals des pompiers, dance parties held on the nights of July 13 and 14. It is a public holiday, with shops closed and many Parisians away on summer holiday, and viewing spots for the parade and fireworks fill hours ahead. Hotels near the Champs-Élysées and Trocadéro book early. This countdown ticks to midnight Central European Time in Paris on July 14.