The traditional parade of July 14, 2020 in Paris will be like no other. No celebration on the Champs-Elysées, as usual, but a ceremony on the Place de la Concorde. And "July 14 has, this year, been reinvented in order to pay tribute to the people, civil and military, engaged in the fight against the Covid-19", recalls the Ministry of the Armed Forces, which detailed the program on its site this Friday.
2,500 people will parade in total, in front of 2,000 spectators, including 1,400 caregivers and representatives of civil society, in tribute to all the actors mobilized during the health crisis (exposed professionals such as cashiers and police, relatives of victims, etc. ).
The ministers of health of four countries which have welcomed French patients, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg, will also be present in the gallery. However, unlike usual, there will be no audience and the only possibility to attend the parade will be to turn on the television.
Planes, then helicopters, then troops on foot
Emmanuel Macron is expected on site at 10.45 am and will be greeted by the Chief of the Defense Staff.
The ceremony as such will begin at 11 a.m. with a tribute to General de Gaulle. In this 2020 “year of Gaulle” - as the Elysée baptized it - we celebrate both the 130th anniversary of his birth, the 80th anniversary of the call of June 18 and the 50th anniversary of his disappearance.
Then the planes will sail in the sky of Paris . 52 aircraft, including some from the Patrouille de France as well as British aircraft, will make their flight in the La Défense axis - Place de l'Etoile - Place de la Concorde. They “are supplied with bio-based jet fuels” up to 5%, would like to specify the Ministry of the Armed Forces, while environmental concerns are essential in the public debate.
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VIDEO. Parade of July 14: the Air Force will pay tribute to caregivers
Then place the helicopter ballet , just after an animation dedicated to "the tradition of July 14, national holiday, popular festival". In particular, the role of the devices that transported seriously ill Covid-19 patients to a hospital in another region will be recalled in recent months.
It is the troops on foot that will pass last . As usual, a large number of armed or law enforcement forces will be represented, but they will travel a much shorter distance. The ceremony will end with an animation in "tribute to the Nation" .
Macron interview
This July 14 will be unprecedented until the end since, for the first time in his mandate, Emmanuel Macron must then speak on television during an interview conducted by journalists Léa Salamé and Gilles Bouleau. Renewing thus with the traditional presidential interview of July 14.
Finally, if the fireworks at the foot of the Eiffel Tower is maintained, the Paris city hall calls on residents to stay at home to attend, in order to avoid large gatherings on the street. "The French are strongly encouraged not to gather around the prohibited perimeter, and they are invited to follow the televised retransmission of the fireworks on France 2," said the City on its site this Friday.
