Bastille Day on 60th Street: Sunday, July 10 in Manhattan featuring Brasserie Cognac, a Peachy's Pick, a Home of The Peachy Deegan and member of the Serafina Group! Go Mover and Shaker Florian Hugo! Oooh La La Mademoiselle Peachy Cannot WAIT! French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) presents Bastille Day on 60th Street A Three-Block Festival Celebrating the Best of France in New York Sunday, July 10, 2011 Noon to 5pm East 60th Street, from Fifth to Lexington Avenues Rain or Shine!
French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF)
presents
Bastille Day on 60th Street
A Three-Block Festival Celebrating
the Best of France in New York
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Noon to 5pm
East 60th Street, from Fifth to Lexington Avenues
Rain or Shine!
The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF), New York's premiere French cultural center, announced today the festivities planned for this year’s edition of Bastille Day on 60th Street, New York’s biggest and brightest French celebration.
For more than ten years, Bastille Day on 60th Street has been the largest public celebration in New York of the friendship between France and the United States: over 25,000 visitors attended the fête in 2010. Join us this July as FIAF celebrates France’s National Holiday commemorating the storming of the Bastille and the birth of the modern French nation. FIAF’s annual street fair, Bastille Day on 60th Street, unites French-speaking people and American Francophiles, to revel in the flavors, sounds, and joie de vivre of France.
Spanning three city blocks, between Fifth Avenue and Lexington Avenue on East 60th Street, Bastille Day offers a fun-filled street fête that abounds with French cuisine, musique, and myriad attractions for the whole family. For five hours, the street is closed to traffic and dedicated to Franco-American celebrations.
Highlights will include:
· Tastings! Sample Provençal rosé, red, and white wines, accompanied by an array of delicious French cheeses. Discover typical French summer apéritifs: fresh, artisanal French beers Jenlain from northern France and Pietra from Corsica; and Ricard, the anise-flavored pastis from Marseille.
· Free performances! This year’s open-air performances recreate the ambiance of a French fête populaire, drawing on jazz, swing, and cabaret. New York band Les Chauds Lapins offers classic French swing from the 1920s through the 1940s, and the wildly popular French Can-Can dancers return to the main stage located at the west corner of 60th Street and Park Avenue for performances throughout the afternoon.
· Fabulous raffle prizes! Including a Grand Prize trip to Paris with airline tickets courtesy of American Airlines, a Premier Prize Club Med Miami family getaway, and drawings throughout the day.
· Free family activities! Including a pétanque contest, the Kids’ Corner organized by the FIAF Language Center, games, storytelling, arts and crafts, accordionist, mime, and classic Citroën cars.
· Free French workshops! Brush up on your French with complimentary 30-minute workshops offered throughout the day.
Entertainment on the main stage will feature:
- 12:00 noon – Veveritse Brass Band – the dramatic soaring melodies and insistent dance beats from the most thrilling Balkan brass band this side of Vranjski Banja
- 1:30pm – Can-Can Dancers
- 1:45pm – Raffle Drawing
- 2pm – Les Chauds Lapins – French swing from the 1920s through the ‘40s, long-forgotten French classics for banjo-ukes, string trio, guitar, and winds
- 2:45pm – Can-Can Dancers
- 2:50pm – Les Chauds Lapins
- 3:30pm – Raffle Drawing – includes Premier Prize!
- 3:45pm – Banda Magda – an intricate and eclectic sound, drawing from French chansons blended with South American grooves and a twist of jazz
- 4:45pm – Raffle Drawing – includes Grand Prize!
Bastille Day on 60th Street is free and open to the public. For more information and updates, please visit bastilledaynyc.com
Bastille Day on 60th Street
Sunday, July 10, 2011 from 12:00 noon–5pm
Public Information: bastilledaynyc.com | 212 355 6100 (FIAF)
Public Transportation:
Subway - 4, 5, 6 to 59th Street; N, R and Q to 5th Avenue; E to 53rd Street & 5th Avenue.
Bus - M1, M2, M3, M4, Q 31 to 59th Street; M5 to 58th Street.
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Merci!
Lead sponsorship for Bastille Day on 60th Street is provided by American Airlines, the official airline of FIAF.
Bastille Day on 60th Street is made possible with the generous support of Lactalis (Président and Société Specialty Cheeses); Ricard, exclusive cocktail provider; TV5MONDE; and Vins de Provence, the exclusive wine provider of Bastille Day on 60th Street.
Additional support provided by Jenlain and Pietra, exclusive beer provider; and Volvic, the official water of Bastille Day on 60th Street.
Media sponsors are France-Amérique and France Today.
About FIAF
FIAF's mission is to create and offer New Yorkers innovative and unique programs in education and the arts that explore the evolving diversity and richness of French cultures. FIAF seeks to generate new ideas and promote cross-cultural dialogue through partnerships and new platforms of expression. www.fiaf.org.
