While the Fourth of July celebrations are coming to an end, the start of another Independence Day is right around the corner. The French community of Denver continues the festivities by celebrating Bastille Day on July 14 in many ways.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 15,841 people living in the Mile High City have French ancestry, representing 2.2% of the population. Two organizations—L’Alliance Française and the Rocky Mountain French American Chamber of Commerce—are largely responsible for representing this population in the metro area and helping spread the culture of the European country. The two nonprofits often collaborate, especially when Bastille Day rolls around. The holiday weekend is an important way for those with French ancestry to celebrate their community and country, as well as welcome non-French Americans to learn about the culture and language.
“It’s celebrating France’s independence, similarly to July 4, although obviously there’s different histories involved,” said Rebecca Boyd, executive director at L’Alliance Française of Denver. “It’s really a time of celebration. It’s a time where we can all come together and celebrate being French together because there are so many values, I think, that come from France that are not necessarily appreciated in the same way in the United States.”
Although many are looking forward to celebrating the holiday, Bastille Day this year is set amid controversy. The countries leadership is still uncertain after elections to form a new Assemblée Nationale took place from June 30 to July 7.
France has also been preparing for the 2024 Summer Olympics since the International Olympic Committee awarded the Games to Paris in 2017. The city has spent $9.66 billion in preparation, including $1.5 billion on cleaning the Seine River which is still failing water quality tests one month before the Olympics. With plans of having open swim events in the famous river that flows through the city, President Emmanuel Macron and Paris’ Mayor Anne Hidalgo have spent taxpayers’ money on a seemingly endless venture. This has left Parisians feeling stressed and angry.
“Paris will be unbearable,” said Parisian Evelyne in an interview with the BBC. “Impossible to park; impossible to move around; impossible to do anything. Madame Hidalgo has wrecked Paris, and I want no part of the Games.”
All that aside Francophiles are focusing on their Independence Day this weekend and remembering their liberty. In 1789, the French started to gain independence from the monarchy. The people of Paris seized weapons from the armory at the Invalides and marched toward an ancient royal fortress, the Bastille. After a round of firing, the crowd broke into the Bastille and released prisoners held there.
The storming of the Bastille revealed the weaknesses of the French monarchy and paved the way for a shift to a more people-focused center of political power, laying the foundation for what would become today’s democratic France and serving as a shining example of the spirit captured by its national motto “liberté, égalité, fraternité.”
Today, Bastille Day is a national holiday recognized all around the country and abroad. In Paris, it’s typically celebrated with fireworks at the Eiffel Tower and a massive military parade along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées with high-profile international leaders and guests. It’s the largest annual military parade in Europe and the oldest ongoing one in the world, with the first one occurring on Bastille Day 1880. Around the country, citizens wave the tricolor flag, party with friends and family, and sing “La Marseillaise,” the French national anthem.
The Alliance Française is celebrating this day by hosting a ticketed Apértif en Blanc at the Denver Botanical Gardens as a chance for those interested in the culture to mingle.
“This event is modeled after France’s Dinner en Blanc. Dinner en Blanc is a celebration that happens in the summer in France where everyone wears white and participates in a dinner together. So we are doing a happy hour from four to seven with the goal of being with other French speakers and Francophiles, French natives and French speakers,” Boyd said.
Besides bringing people together to celebrate France’s Independence Day, it is also a fundraising event to help improve Alliance Française’s Santa Fe Arts District location and create a cultural center.
“The goal of this project is to bring more and more culture and more arts to the area of downtown Denver, as well as unify all French organizations under one roof by giving them space to do events and to really recreate the French ambiance and atmosphere that we want to give to the Denver public who’s curious about learning French and what France and other French-speaking countries have to offer for the community in Denver,” Boyd said.
The Rocky Mountain French American Chamber of Commerce also hopes to bring people in the community together at its free French market from July 12 to 14 in Cherry Creek North.
“During this three-day event, there will be a market with different local business owners, offering food, art, fashion, jewelry, everything that you can expect in a French market,” said Emma Glass, executive director of the Rocky Mountain French American Chamber of Commerce. “Because we want to really entertain the people, we have a stage where you have many different performers and even a free yoga class on Saturday morning.”
In addition to the market, the event will feature live painting by local artists to recreate the atmosphere of Montmartre, the hill in Paris where Picasso, Van Gogh and many others used to paint and sell their art. More activities include “Course De Garçons De Café,” which translates as the waiters’ race. In this event, kids and adults can participate by wearing the typical Parisian waiter outfit of suspenders, an apron, and a bowtie, and testing the speed at which they can carry a loaded tray without tipping any of its contents. This race has been going on in France since the 1930s.
The event will also feature a fashion show with Brandi McMichael on July 12 and a watch party on July 14 for the Euro Cup Finale. All activities are meant to welcome the Denver public to experience a different culture and have a taste of France.
“We hope to make people happy,” Glass said. “We want to help people learn a little bit more about French culture and to also be successful, so all the artists and vendors involved can get more visibility and thrive during this event.”
Finding a home away from home as someone who comes from a different country can be difficult. However, through their events, these organizations aim to help people in Denver find a community. Even those who are just looking for an excuse to enjoy food, drinks and music are welcome to join in.
“Whether you’re French or American, this is for everyone. And one good thing is that we share the exact same colors. You can reuse your outfit from the Fourth of July and rock our red, white and blue colors,” Glass said.
