Bastille Day military parade
| Bastille Day Military Parade | |
|---|---|
Cadets of the École militaire interarmes
|
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| Official name | Défilé du 14 juillet |
| Observed by |
 France
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| Celebrations | Military parade |
| Date | 14 July |
| Next time | 14 July 2017 |
| Frequency | annual |
| Related to | Bastille Day |
The Bastille Day Military Parade (or 14 July Military Parade, translation of the French name of Défilé militaire du 14 Juillet) is a French military parade that has been held on the morning of 14 July each year in Paris since 1880, almost without exception.
The parade passes down the Champs-Elysées from l'Arc de Triomphe to Place de la Concorde where the President of the French Republic, his government and foreign ambassadors to France stand. This is a popular event in France, broadcast on French TV, and is one of the oldest regular military parades in the world. In some years, invited detachments of foreign troops take part in the parade and foreign statesmen attend as guests.
Smaller military parades are held in French garrison towns (such as Toulon, Brest or Belfort) with local troops.
As the President of France arrives via a convoy of the Republican Guard to the Arc de Triomphe, he is greeted by the parade commander, who informs him that the parade is now ready for inspection. He then rides the Chief of Defense Staff's vehicle to inspect the troops on the Champs-Elysées escorted by troopers and officers of the Republican Guard's cavalry regiment and its mounted band, waving on the crowds lining up on the boulevard. After he disembarks from the vehicle he finishes the inspection through one done for the Republican Guard Infantry units, then walks to the stage on the Place de la Concorde to meet the dignitaries present.
Since recent years the parade starts with military bands from the French Armed Forces taking stage with band exhibitions and drill shows, even including displays from foreign service troops and mounted units, and military and civil choirs and even singers singing classic French patriotic songs. This opening act ends with the playing of La Marseillaise, the National Anthem of France.
The parade opens with cadets from the military schools in order of seniority: the École Polytechnique, the Saint-Cyr, the École Navale, followed by newer academies. Competition between those schools often leaded to some practical pranks: Polytechnique is a highly selective engineer school(considered as the most difficult in the country) whose students reverse most of the time to civilian occupation while Saint Cyr is a professional officer school. As a consequence students from the first often "mined" the path for their colleagues using sticky or slippery products.
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Wikipedia