JULY 14. The traditional July 14 parade in Paris must change its route due to the Olympic Games in Paris. For the occasion, the number of military personnel parading for the National Day will also be reduced.
The reorganization of the July 14, 2024 parade, which is being held this year on Avenue Foch, has consequences on the duration of the event, which will only last 1 hour and 45 minutes instead of the usual 2 hours on the Champs Élysées.
- 09:45 : finalization of the installation of foot troops on the Étoile site.
- 10 hours : positioning of the honor detachments of the Republican Guard.
- 10:17 : arrival of the President of the Republic Emmanuel Marcon on the Avenue de Friedland. Review of the troops.
- 10:27 : honors paid to the President of the Republic at the bottom of Avenue Foch.
- 10:33 : entertainment by the Air Force jazz orchestra on the theme of the 80th anniversary of the Landings, the Liberation of France and Victory.
- 10:49 : parade of helicopters and planes.
- 10:53 : parade of the troops in honor, followed by the parade of the troops on foot.
- 11:34 : parade of planes.
- 11:40 a.m. : horse parade.
- 11:44 : final animation on the theme “Armies and Olympism”.
- 12:00 p.m. : departure of the President of the Republic Emmanuel Marcon.
After July 14, 1880, the military parade became an institution. On July 14, 1919, Marshals Foch, Joffre and Pétain paraded on horseback on the Champs-Elysées – even passing under the Arc de Triomphe – to celebrate the victory in the First World War won a few months earlier. It was at this time that the traditional July 14 parade took up residence on the most famous avenue in Paris. After an eclipse during the Second World War, the July 14 parade took on its current appearance with the proliferation of tanks and planes. However, some presidents of the Republic brought short-lived innovations.
During his term, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing moved the parade to other streets of Paris, such as the Cours de Vincennes, the Ecole Militaire or between Bastille and République in Bastille. In 1982, François Mitterrand postponed the parade until nightfall. The ceremony is perfectly smooth. The parade rehearsals generally take place on July 12 at dawn, two days before the key date. It opens with the passage of planes and helicopters. In all, around 4,000 soldiers parade on the Champs-Elysées at a pace of 120 steps per minute. Students from prestigious schools such as Saint-Cyr appear in full uniform. The march is traditionally closed by units of the Foreign Legion, famous for their voluminous beards and slower pace.
For almost a century, the commemoration of July 14 was abandoned. It reappeared in 1880, under the Third Republic. The regime, in order to consolidate itself, sought to build a new national imagery, around republican symbols. This is how the Marseillaise became the official anthem and July 14 became a national holiday. But the proposal, which came from the Seine MP Benjamin Raspail, was not unanimously welcomed by the Assembly. Some MPs questioned the violence of July 14, 1789. And it was finally around July 14, 1790 that the consensus was reached! That year, the monument topped with the statue on Place de la République was also inaugurated, and concerts and fireworks were held everywhere. The “July Column” which overlooks the Place de la Bastille does not refer to July 14, 1789. It bears the name of the victims of the revolutionary days of July 1830, the “Three Glorious Days”.