France National Holiday Celebration Of Bastille Day

The national holiday of France is observed on July 14 every year. Referred to as "La Fete Nationale" or "Le Quatorze Juillet" in French, this special day is a commemoration of the 1789 siege of the Bastille prison; hence, this day is also known as Bastille Day.

The Bastille fortress represented the absolutistic subjugation of the French people, so that it's storming on July 14, 1789 signaled the French people's defiance against that virtual one-man rule and gave birth to modern France. The significance of this event was that the French people realized that the real power was in their hands and not in their king's.

On the morning of this important day, festive activities are held on the prestigious Avenue des Champs-Elysees in the capital city of Paris. The most prominent one, held right in front of the President of France, is the grand parade participated in by men and women from various units of the armed forces. These include those from La Royale (the French Navy), the elite Legion etrangere (the French Foreign Legion), and the Armee de l'Air (the French Air Force).

Even cadets from military schools and firefighters from the Brigade des Sapeurs-Pompiers de Paris (the Paris Fire Brigade) take part in the military parade, with the latter bringing up the rear. Above the parade route fly military aircraft (such as the Rafale and the Mirage F1). Thousands of people witness the parade as the President reviews the troops.

Elsewhere, there are musical presentations, programs, and such other performances that highlight the French culture. Of course, the celebration is not complete without the usual spectacle - the fireworks display. For other people, the day is an occasion for simple family gatherings or enjoying the company of friends in excursions or outings.

The National Day of France has two important symbols: the Tricolore (the French national flag) and the Eiffel Tower. The latter is the most prominent symbol of France and is in fact that country's world icon. The structure is noted for being the "single most visited paid monument in the world", and this is especially true on Bastille Day.

The law that made July 14 France's yearly national holiday was actually made official on July 6, 1880. Then, the French Interior Ministry recommended that the special day be observed with grandeur.

Interestingly, at least four other countries celebrate Bastille Day. The United Kingdom celebrates the day in various locations in England; Hungary celebrates it in its capital city Budapest; South Africa holds its celebrations in the old town of Franschhoek; and the United States has at least nine cities observing the day.

The cities of Baltimore, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle have large celebrations during this day. Included in these celebrations are musical performances, circus, and other forms of merrymaking. People in these cities go on picnics, partaking in French food, pastries, and wine. In some of these cities, the celebration begins with a reenactment of the storming of the Bastille.

France Celebration Of Halloween

Many countries around the world celebrate Halloween as a holiday. It is observed on the eve of All Saints' Day, October 31, and hence has close association with this Christian holiday.

In France, Halloween is celebrated in much the same way as it is in most other countries, although it is not one of its traditional holidays. For example, the French also do these famous activities during Halloween:

• They attend costume parties, wearing costumes associated with the occasion.

• Children go trick-or-treating in Halloween costumes from house to house.

• People make jack-o'-lanterns (carved pumpkins).

• They go on ghost tours or visit haunted attractions.

• People do pranks or tell scary stories.

Halloween to the French was a virtual "unknown" until foreign influence (mostly from tourists and foreigners residing in France) slowly opened the eyes and minds of the French toward it. And as the French started to become familiar with Halloween little by little because of said foreign influence, extensive corporate marketing accelerated their understanding of it.

Here are some examples of how Halloween was (and still is) actively marketed into the French consciousness:

• A restaurant-bar in Paris is said to be the first such establishment in France to celebrate Halloween. This was in 1982. The owners, at first, had to make their customers understand what the celebration was all about. It took about 13 years (i.e., 13 celebrations) for the bar's customers to become fully cognizant of Halloween.

• The owners of the Masked Museum, which is located in the merged municipalities of Saint-Hilaire and Saint-Florent, began expanding the reach of Halloween in France a year after they opened the museum in 1992.

• Confiseries (candy stores) and pastry shops decorate their counters and windows with things associated with Halloween; products here are ladled with icing in the two colors the occasion is noted for - black and orange.

• Giant companies and big businesses use Halloween symbols and images in their advertisements and marketing campaigns whenever the occasion is nearing.

Today, people in France - young and old alike - attend Halloween costume parties. They wear scary costumes, such as those that make them look like a ghost, vampire, mummy, or a witch. This is one aspect in which France may be a little different in its celebration of Halloween from, say, the United States, where nonscary costumes (cartoon characters or superheroes, for example) are the preferred "disguises".

The idea of celebrating Halloween in a rather commercialized atmosphere is something that some people in France do not really appreciate. Some, in fact, are still not fully aware what exactly is being celebrated when the day comes. The reason for this is that the predominant religion in France is Roman Catholicism, and Halloween is not an occasion recognized by the Roman Catholic Church.

Still, many French, for hundreds of years, have already been observing Halloween in traditional ways the day is celebrated - visiting cemeteries and decorating the graves of their deceased relatives and friends, attending special church services, and honoring Saints. Of course, such celebration of Halloween in France coincides with the observance of La Toussaint (All Saints' Day, November 1) and Le Jour des Morts (All Souls' Day, November 2).

Five Movable French Public Holidays

Most countries have public holidays whose dates are movable. That is, they are not fixed to a specific day of the calendar year. In France, they have thirteen public holidays, five of which have movable dates. These are as follows:

1. Pâques (Easter) - This is the most important religious celebration in France, and is in fact considered the holiest day in the Christian calendar. The day is a commemoration of Christ's resurrection and marks the end of Lent.

Based on the Christian liturgical year, Easter is celebrated on the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the day of the occurrence of the vernal equinox. By simple definition, vernal equinox is a specific time of the year when day and night are about the same in duration.

Doing away with such technical terms, France will celebrate Easter on these dates of the next five years: April 4, 2010, April 24, 2011, April 8, 2012, March 31, 2013, and April 20, 2014.

2. Lundi de Pâques (Easter Monday) - This is actually an extra public holiday in France as well as in some other Christian countries. Understandably, this celebration moves in relation to the moving date of Pâques. For the next five years, therefore, France will celebrate Easter Monday on the following dates: April 5, 2010, April 25, 2011, April 9, 2012, April 1, 2013, and April 21, 2014.

3. L'Ascencion (Ascension Day) - In the Christian doctrine, Jesus, following his resurrection, ascended to Heaven in the presence of his eleven disciples. While some countries observe this holy day on the immediate Sunday forty days after Easter, France retained the traditional Christian celebration of the Thursday that is exactly the 40th day from Easter.

Hence, France will celebrate l'Ascencion every year, from 2010 to 2014, on these dates: May 13, 2010, June 2, 2011, May 17, 2012, May 9, 2013, and May 29, 2014.

4. Pentecôte (Pentecost) - The Pentecost, which is also called Whitsun, is another important religious feast in the Christian calendar. It is the commemoration of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus' eleven disciples. Observance of this feast is on the seventh Sunday after Easter.

Because it always falls on a Sunday, the Pentecost is automatically a public holiday. In France, la Pentecôte will be observed in the next five years, beginning 2010, on these dates: May 23, 2010, June 12, 2011, May 27, 2012, May 19, 2013, and June 8, 2014.

5. Lundi de Pentecôte (Whit Monday) - This is another extra public holiday in France. It is observed on the Monday immediately following la Pentecôte. Therefore, France will observe Whit Monday on these dates: May 24, 2010, June 13, 2011, May 28, 2012, May 20, 2013, and June 9, 2014.

In the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, Good Friday is also observed as a public holiday. The two provinces' dates of celebration of this holy day are on April 2, 2010, April 22, 2011, April 6, 2012, March 29, 2013, and April 18, 2014.

Fête du Travail Is Labor Day In France

May 1 is International Workers' Day, or simply Labor Day, in many countries around the world. In France, the day is referred to as "Fête du Travail". The day is celebrated with parades and demonstrations organized by trade unions and other similar workers' organizations. These moves are aimed at campaigning for the rights of workers and airing their demands, which are directed at businesses and concerned government agencies.

Fête du Travail is a public holiday in France. Most businesses, shops, and stores are closed on this day; so are banks and post offices. Schedules of public transport service are different on this day from those of the regular working days of the week. This is because of the disruptions to traffic that the said demonstrations and parades are expected to cause.

On April 23, 1919, France officially adopted the 8-hour working day. That same year, May 1 became a public holiday in that country. But it was almost 30 years later when this day was started to be used as an occasion for celebrating and campaigning for the rights of workers. The yearly campaigns led to several changes in labor rules and laws.

Some of the conditions and regulations included in the present French labor laws are as follows:

• The levels of "salaire" (salary) are fixed by mutual agreement between employer and employee. The salary of an employee indicated in the contract is usually expressed in annual gross figure.

• The Salaire Minimum Interprofessionnel de Croissance (SMIC) guarantees minimum hourly wage. This means that the wage payment to an employee should not go below the minimum level as provided for in the SMIC.

• "Temps de travail" (legal working hours) per week is fixed at thirty-five hours. This rule, however, does not apply to limited liability company managers, executives, sales representatives, domestic staff, and other employees with special working conditions.

• Employees are entitled to five weeks of paid vacation every year. The five weeks are distributed at two and a half days for every month worked.

• "Congé de maternité" (maternity leave) entitles every mother to no less than 16 weeks of paid leave. "Congé de paternité" (paternity leave), on the other hand, provides a new father 11 days of paid leave, taken consecutively within 4 months of the birth.

It is interesting to note that the lily of the valley is the symbol the French used for this occasion. Bouquets of this flower are traditionally given to loved ones during this day. This tradition is very much alive particularly in the administrative region of Île-de-France.

History has it that King Charles IX of France was gifted with lily of the valley flowers on May 1, 1561. The king appreciated the present so much. Every year on May 1 from then on, he gave the same flowers to every lady of his court.

Today, French families living in country areas wake up very early in the morning of May 1 each year to go into the woods and pick lily of the valley flowers. Workers and students in urban areas sell bouquets of the flower door-to-door or on the streets to raise funds for labor organizations.

Eight Public Holidays In France Celebrated On Fixed Dates

France celebrates a total of thirteen public holidays, or jours feriés, every year. Of these, eight are observed on fixed dates, which include three important religious celebrations. These eight fixed-dated French public holidays are listed below, in the order of their occurrence.

1. Le Jour de l'An (New Year's Day) - France, like most other countries, celebrates New Year's Day on January 1, the first day based on the Gregorian calendar. The highlight of activities on this holiday, again like in many countries, takes place at midnight that spans the last day of the old year (December 31) to the first day of the new year. Observance of the New Year lasts up to January 6, the feast of the Epiphany.

2. Fête du Travail (Labor Day) - There probably isn't a country that does not observe Labor Day, for on this day workers celebrate their social and economic achievements. In France, Labor Day is celebrated in conjunction with the celebration of "Le Jour du Muguet". In this latter celebration, workers sell "muguet" (lily of the valley) on the streets to raise funds for labor unions. May 1 is the date when France, and almost all countries, celebrates Labor Day.

3. Victoire 1945 (Victory in Europe Day) - This public holiday is celebrated in France on May 8. It is a celebration of the victory of the Allied Powers (of which France was a member) against Nazi Germany that signaled the end of World War II.

4. Fête Nationale (Bastille Day) - This is the National Day of France, which is celebrated on July 14 every year. The celebration is a commemoration of the storming of the medieval fortress and prison known as the Bastille, which took place on July 14, 1789, that paved the way for the rise of modern France.

5. Assomption (Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary) - Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion in France, and the Assomption is one of the most important religious celebrations in this country. This August 15 celebration is an observance of the taking up into Heaven, body and soul, of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

6. Toussaint (All Saints' Day) - This is another important religious celebration in France, which is observed on November 1 each year. The day is celebrated in honor of all the Saints who are recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. Traditionally on this day too, deceased family members and friends are remembered and prayed for.

7. Armistice 1918 (Armistice Day) - This holiday, which is also called Remembrance Day, is celebrated on November 11. It is a commemoration of the signing of the armistice or cessation of hostilities by and between the Allies of World War I and Germany. The event is especially important for France since it was in the French commune of Compiègne where the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918. Through this momentous event, World War I eventually ended.

8. Noël (Christmas Day) - This is the most joyful religious celebration in France, as it is in many parts of the world. It is celebrated on December 25 in commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity. The Christmas season actually is one of the longest holidays in France, which is celebrated beginning on Christmas eve (December 24) up to the feast of the Epiphany on January 6 the following year.

In the eastern provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, the day after Christmas Day (December 26), which is referred to as the Second Day of Christmas, is also celebrated as a public holiday.