Freedom Fries No More: Your Guide To Bastille Weekend
Bastille Day is officially on July 14, but as usual, most of the fun is taking place this weekend in Fairmount, with some choice events beginning tomorrow. Eastern State Penitentiary’s website will tell you most of what you need to know.
On Thursday, the Fairmount French Fling Bar Crawl will take place at The Belgian Café, Bishop’s Collar, Bridgid’s Bar and Restaurant, Jack’s Firehouse, London Grill, Rembrandt’s Restaurant, and Urban Saloon beginning at 7 pm. There will be specials on Kronenbourg 1664, one of the most popular beers in France, as well as French foods. All that should easily take care of your Thursday night.
Friday will bring more specials at Jack’s Firehouse, The Belgian Café, Rembrandt’s Restaurant, Trio, and London Grill (which is having French trivia night!). Mugshots’ Family Film Night will include instructions on the basics of the French language. There will also be free outdoor film screenings of Pepe Le Pew cartoons (8 pm, and not for nothing, that is, like, totally racist) and The Aristocats (8:30 pm) on the lawn behind Eastern State Penitentiary.
Saturday is the big day, which includes a street festival at Eastern State beginning at 2 pm. There will be live music, children’s activities, a pet parade, food, and other exhibits and vendors. At 5:30 will be the annual reenactment of the Storming of the Bastille. Will the crowd elect to behead Marie Antoinette? Maybe after all the food and beer on Saturday, they’ll be feeling mellow this year (who are we kidding?). Afterward you can take a tour of Eastern State or head over to one of the after parties at Mugshots, London Grill, Trio, Jack’s Firehouse, Rembrandt’s, or The Belgian Café.
Sunday concludes the Bastille Day long weekend with special brunches at Mugshots, The Belgian Café, London Grill, and Trio.
In case the Fairmount activities aren’t your thing, there are a few other options. You can nerd out at the National Constitution Center’s Bastille Day Celebration from 11 am – 3:30 pm from Saturday through Tuesday, learning the real meaning behind Bastille Day (much like Christmas not being all about the presents, Bastille Day isn’t all about the beheadings. Kind of.). On Saturday at 7 pm, the International House is screening Alain Cavalier’s French suspense film Le Combat dans l’ile (Fire and Ice).
Now for the hard part: Should we dress as sans-culottes this year? Would going all out and wearing our most aristocratic culottes be too dangerous?
