40th annual Bastille Days festival wraps up in Cathedral Square Park

Sunday, July 16, 2023 marked the final day of the four-day French themed Bastille Days festival held in Cathedral Square Park in downtown Milwaukee. “Esquires II” (pictured above) who were the last band to perform at the festival this year.

Bastille Days returned for its 40th year of celebrating French history and culture and, of course, food; and visitors to the festival seemed happy to see the event return to its pre-pandemic format. Organizers estimated more than 100,000 people attended the popular, free street festival this year.

Bastille Days commemorates the violent and forceful takeover by French citizens of the infamous Bastille Prison in Paris on July 14, 1789, marking the start of the French Revolution (hence the rallying cry “Storm the Bastille”). It also was the beginning of the end of France’s days as a monarchy (both the king and queen were eventually beheaded); and the country’s eventual adoption of a constitution and a republic form of representative government. Nowadays, Bastille Day in France is celebrated on July 14 as a national holiday, much like we in the United States celebrate July 4 as our nation’s Independence Day.

With 2023’s successful Bastille Days weekend now in the books, festival organizers are already looking forward to making it even bigger and better next year. À l’année prochaine…” (Loose translation: “See you next year!”)