European troops, warplanes join Paris Bastille Day parade in show of unity for Ukraine
France's Bastille Day celebrations feature European troops and leaders in a show of unity, support for Ukraine and military strength. President Emmanuel Macron hosts the event as heatwaves and forest fires disrupt traditional festivities, prompting cancellations of fireworks and firefighters' balls
Paris: This year’s Bastille Day celebrations aren’t just about France. Troops and warplanes from around Europe are joining Tuesday’s pomp-filled parade through Paris, in what’s meant to be a showcase of support for Ukraine and proof of European military strength.
On President Emmanuel Macron’s last Bastille Day as president, he is hosting around 30 other leaders for an event that appears aimed at showing both Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump that Europe is united and stepping up to defend itself.
Meanwhile, raging forest fires and a red-alert heat wave are shaking up France’s biggest national holiday, forcing the cancellation of traditional fireworks and firefighters’ balls.
Here’s what to know about Bastille Day this year.
It commemorates the start of the French Revolution
It’s celebrated on July 14 because that’s the day Parisians stormed the Bastille fortress and prison in 1789, helping spark the French Revolution that overthrew the monarchy and sent King Louis XVI and his queen Marie-Antoinette to the guillotine.
Today, the day is central to the French calendar. Presidents use it to vaunt France’s accomplishments and national pride, mayors host village festivals and families gather for holiday meals.
The centrepiece is the Paris parade beneath the Napoleon-era Arc de Triomphe and along the Champs-Elysees avenue, which inspired Trump to stage his own parade last year.
Ukraine is a special guest
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will join Macron along with some 30 other heads of state or government in the special viewing area for the parade.
Ukrainian troops will march along the cobblestoned avenue, and Ukrainian co-pilots trained in France will fly two Mirage 2000B fighter jets alongside French air force pilots.
Macron said Monday night that it’s a “great honour” to welcome to the parade “all the partners in the coalition of the willing and our Ukrainian friends who will march with us and illustrate its strategic reawakening and our unity.”
Troops from around Europe are marching
On the ground, the parade will open with around 500 troops from the “coalition of the willing” grouping of countries that have pledged to help with Ukraine’s post-war security.
In the skies, aircraft from Germany, the United Kingdom, Croatia, Poland, Denmark, Greece, Sweden, Norway, Spain and Italy will take part.
The parade will set a record in terms of number of troops: 6,800 troops will take part in the marching parade this year, compared with 5,810 in 2025.
The heat is disrupting the holiday
Forest fires are raging in the Fontainebleau forest south of Paris and in areas of southern France, as the country suffers through its third heat wave this year.
As a result, authorities in some regions — including the French capital — banned fireworks and firefighters’ balls customarily held around Bastille Day.
The Eiffel Tower’s drone light show was maintained, however, and held Monday night.
