L’Alliance New York is gearing up for a colorful celebration of Bastille Day in Montclair, New Jersey, and, as has been the tradition for over 30 years, on Madison Avenue in Manhattan. After last year’s L’Occitane theme, Cannes will dominate the 2025 edition of these “great street parties, very cheerful and joyful, free and open to all,” says Tatyana Franck, the institution’s enthusiastic president.
Montclair: Cinema, French Shopping & Garden Party
This year, New Jersey’s French and Francophiles can celebrate Bastille Day over the course of two days. The Montclair branch of L’Alliance New York will kick off the festivities on Friday evening, July 11, with a screening of Martin Provost’s film Bonnard, Pierre et Marthe (2023), starring Vincent Macaigne and Cécile de France, about the 50-year passion between Pierre Bonnard and Marthe de Méligny. The New York preview will take place at 7 pm at The Clairidge (486 Bloomfield Ave). Tickets can be found here.
The following day, Saturday, July 12, from 10 am to 4 pm, is French Shopping Day: stalls all over town will offer a chance to discover French cuisine and gastronomy, French-made products for sale, and a treasure hunt for children. Saturday will end with a garden party from 5 pm to 9 pm at the Van Vleck House & Gardens, featuring a gourmet buffet and a sunset concert. (Reservations can be made here.)
Madison Avenue: 5 Hours of Non-Stop Partying
On Sunday, July 13, holiday festivities will take place in Manhattan, with a multitude of activities between 5th and Madison Avenue, and between 59th and 63rd Street, which will be closed to traffic between 12 pm and 5 pm. Artists Yvan Clédat and Coco Petitpierre will kick off this afternoon of celebration with one of their “Baigneurs” displays—a lively, humorous and poetic take on the theme of the South of France. Two large dolls in striped bathing suits and pleated tulle will perform a seaside tableaux.
“It’s the idea of sunbathing, lounging and playing,” says Tatyana Franck, who, just after the first performance (from 12:15 pm to 12:45 pm), will be presented with the Ordre National du Mérite for her three years at the helm of L’Alliance New York by Béatrice Philippe, one of the members of the Board of Trustees of L’Alliance New York, and President of the Philippe Foundation, in the presence of the Consul General of France, Cédrik Fouriscot.
Among this year’s new features, between 59th and 60th Street, is a lawn-like green space offering families a place to sit, picnic, and indulge in an activity that Tatyana Franck describes as “very gentle, joyful and poetic”: the creation of immense paper flowers in summery pink-orange hues.
Adults and children alike can take dance classes (salsa, jazz/funk and ballet), while on 60th Street, between 5th and Madison, sporting activities include pétanque and fencing. In addition, fans of vintage cars will be able to discover the models presented by The Greater New York Citroën & Velosolex Club at the Citroën car show, on 60th Street, in front of L’Alliance New York. And if all this makes you want to head for the Mediterranean, you can try your luck at winning a trip to Cannes. (Details for the raffle can be found here.)
Bastille Day wouldn’t be complete without the stands selling French products between 60th and 63rd Street—with, as in Montclair, a scavenger hunt organized for children—and the French Garden, located this year in the center of Madison Avenue, between 61st and 62nd Street, with brands such as Angelina Paris, Président, Café d’Avignon, Cartolina Nantucket, Mille-Feuille Bakery, French Wink, and several stands devoted to cinema—including, of course, one for the Cannes Film Festival.
L’Alliance New York’s headquarters will also feature two films screened at the Florence Gould Theater (55 East 59th St.): Jacques Tati’s Jour de Fête at 1:30 pm (tickets here) and, as in Montclair, Martin Provost’s Bonnard, Pierre et Marthe at 5:30 pm (tickets here). Upstairs, in the Skyroom, wine and champagne tastings will take place at 1 pm and 3:30 pm (tickets here).
I think there’s a real need for warmth right now,“ says Tatyana Franck, ”a need to celebrate joie de vivre, in all its diversity. And that’s what we’re going to do with this very joyful program, between Jacques Tati’s Jour de Fête, the Baigneurs, colored flowers, French cuisine… we’re going to celebrate French culture in all its richness!”
Event Locations:
L’Alliance New York in Manhattan, 22 East 60th Street
L’Alliance New York Montclair, 17-19 Munn Street, 2nd floor, Montclair
This article was originally published in French on French Morning. It appears here in translation.
