In France, Bastille Day is a day of revolution and feisty celebrations. In Sydney, it’s about all that too – but also cheese. Lots and lots of cheese. In this year’s case it's also about colour-changing igloos, open fires and live music. Vive la révolution!
All of these delectable happenings will be unfolding beneath the banner of the Bastille Festival, a free, four-day celebration of the diverse culinary and cultural regions of France, whose major festival takeover of Sydney’s foreshore will be happening across the Rocks to Circular Quay, from July 13 until July 16.
This year’s revolutionary escapades will be celebrated in a big kind of way, with 2023 marking ten years of Sydney's Frenchiest festival. This year, at Customs House, you’ll find the Parisian Village, where French street-food favourites like raclette (melted, grilled cheese heaven), fresh crêpes, baguettes, aromatic saucisson, and a selection of the nation’s most beloved cheeses will be up for grabs. Over at the MCA is the Chef Village, where a curated collection of Sydney’s best chefs, restaurants and eateries will be coming together to create fusion meals underpinned by a distinctly French twist, whose secret creations will be revealed one-month prior to the festival kicking off, with all the deliciousness available in participating restaurants close by.
This surely calls for an ooh là là.
On top of all the food festivities, you can expect to enjoy a French wine tour, as well as a whole lot of live music and public dancing, with over 50 performances set to take over the Sydney foreshore over the span of four days. Busking, live drawing, fire twirlers and proper staged concerts will all be lighting up the city, while French movies will be screened on outdoor cinema screens. Paris, who needs her?
Joyeux quatorze Juillet, Sydney!
