Festivals of France

La Saint-Sylvestre

La Saint-Sylvestre• In France, New Year's Eve (31 December) is called la

Saint-Sylvestre* and is usually celebrated with a feast, called le Réveillon de Saint-Sylvestre. The feast tends to include special items like champagne and foie gras, and the accompanying party can range from an intimate dinner with friends to une soirée dansante (ball).

La fete des Rois

La fete des Rois

• La galette des Rois” (the cake or "wafer" of the Kings) is a cake celebrating the Epiphany and traditionally sold and consumed a few days before and after this date. In modern France, the cakes can be found in most bakeries during the month of January. The cake consists of flaky puff pastry layers with a dense center of frangipane.

Mardi gras

Mardi gras• "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season", in

English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday. The day is sometimes referred to as Shrove Tuesday, from the word shrive, meaning "confess."

Pâques

Pâques

• Easter morning is a happy time for children who wake to look for colorfully decorated Easter eggs (les oeufs de Pâques) hidden in their gardens, homes and playgrounds. Parents tell their children the eggs were brought from Rome , and that when the chimes returned they brought the eggs with them. In some parts of France children look for small chariots full of eggs pulled by white horses.

14 Juillet

14 Juillet• Bastille Day is the name given in English-speaking countries to

the French National Day, which is celebrated on the 14th of July each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale and commonly Le quatorze juillet. It commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789; the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation, and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution. Festivities and official ceremonies are held all over France. The oldest and largest regular military parade in Europe is held on the morning of 14 July, on the Champs-Élysées avenue in Paris in front of the President of the Republic, French officials and foreign guests

La Toussaint

La Toussaint• La Toussaint in France (All Saint’s Day) was originally

created by the Catholic Church to honour the poor old saints and martyrs who didn’t have their own holy day.

• Rather sneakily, it was also believed to be an attempt by the church to detract attention from the Celtic, Pagan celebration of Samhain, (pronounced sow-in), born in the British Isles, later to become Halloween. The festival celebrated the end of the bright, warm days of summer and the beginning of the cold dark nights of winter, when spirits were supposed to rise from the dead - none too Catholic for the conrolling church..

Noël

Noël

• Joyeux Noel! The phrase that resonates everywhere in France at the time of Christmas. For all the excited readers, it means 'Merry Christmas' in French. In France, Christmas celebrations is the time to have fun and merriment. People get immersed in the festive mood and enjoy every moment of Christmas. French people consider Christmas as the time to create memories and cherish them for life. Another name for Christmas day in France is Twelfth Day. This is because festivities of Christmas last for twelve long days.

Efforts by:- Vineet Dahiya

Checked by:- Ms Shreya

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