On July 14, the French commemorate the storming of the Bastille in 1789 and the Fête de la Fédération in 1790. On this day, Americans and Canadians celebrate Bastille Day, a celebration of French culture in all its forms. This year’s line-up includes block parties in Manhattan, along Madison Avenue with the French Institute Alliance Française (France-Amérique will have a booth, come say bonjour!) and in Nolita’s “Little Paris” organized by Coucou French Classes, as well as in Dallas, Chicago, San Antonio, Toronto, Winnipeg, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Frenchtown, New Jersey, and Portland, Oregon. And don’t forget the largest French-themed outdoor festival in North America, Milwaukee’s Bastille Days. This event lasts four days and brings together some 250,000 people under a replica of the Eiffel Tower!

And that’s not all, as more than 240 events will be taking place this year! In San Francisco, French and Francophile revelers can meet at the Rickshaw Stop, a music venue hosting its traditional “Bardot A Go Go” evening on the theme of 1960 French pop, while those in Brooklyn will be taking over a warehouse to dance “until very late” to the sounds of Stromae, Daft Punk, France Gall, and Magic System. In the same city, the French Consulate and the Comité des Associations Françaises et de Langue Française have pulled out all the stops once again, and Benabar, Passi, pop singer Adèle Castillon, and DJ Joachim Garraud will be all performing a free concert in Central Park! In Washington D.C., the embassy’s Maison Française will be putting the Little Prince in the spotlight on July 14, and the French Riviera the next day. And on the other coast, the French-American Chamber of Commerce is organizing a projection of paintings on the theme of the French Revolution across the walls of the San Diego Museum of Art.

Still in California, the Los Angeles branch of Coucou French Classes will also be celebrating Bastille Day and the tenth anniversary of this unique French school. Further south, the Texas chapter of the French-American Chamber of Commerce will be taking over the Dallas International School campus and Rice University’s football stadium in Houston to celebrate Bastille Day in style, while in the Seattle suburbs, the Union des Français de l’Etranger will be organizing a pétanque tournament open to all. Meanwhile, the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico will also be having its own tricolor party. The island’s Alliance Française has teamed up with the Museo de Arte in San Juan to host a Francia de Fiesta.

Last but not least, don’t miss an online conference on “the myths and mysteries of the Bastille,” hosted by the Federation of Alliances Françaises USA, and the military parade down the Champs-Elysées, broadcast live on TV5MONDE USA from 10 am Paris time (4 am EST, 1 am PST). And if you’re passing through their small town in Illinois, southwest of Chicago, you can meet Laura Swisher, Leo Sneed, and Heather Delabre. “As pretty much the only three French people in all of Peoria, we need some help celebrating Bastille Day,” they say. “You’re invited to wear blue, white, and/or red, the colors of the French flag, but it’s not required. What is required is that you […] come ready to have some happy hour drinks with us. Vive la révolution!”