What began as a simple celebration of food and wine on Bastille Day has turned into an important “expression of unity” for Sydney’s French community amid ongoing political turmoil in France and Europe.
“The philosophy we have in Europe is that we should not let those things change the way we live,” the founder of the annual Bastille Festival at the Rocks, Vincent Hernandez, said.
Mr Hernandez says the community is still reeling from the Bastille Day attack in Nice last year when a truck drove into a crowd of people watching fireworks, killing 84 and injuring hundreds.
“We’d been partying heavily and then because of the time difference, we woke up on Friday morning with messages on our phones saying there was a terrorist attack in France,” Mr Hernandez
“Suddenly the mood of all the French was, ‘what just happened?’
“That’s obviously something we’re going to remember, but the message last year and this year is that we have to keep celebrating.”
The four-day festival runs over the weekend and includes live music, cabaret shows and wine and cheese tastings.
It initially began as a way for Mr Hernandez to bring the things he missed most about Paris to Sydney.
“When I first moved to Australia six years ago I realised there was no festival showing my culture in Sydney,” he said.
“I wanted to bring all the things I was missing … croissants, cheese, terrine, to the streets on Bastille Day.
“Sydneysiders and Australians in general love good food, and six years ago, all those things were very difficult to find here.”
Mr Hernandez says the city has embraced French culture and cuisine more in recent years and the festival now draws up to 500,000 people.
“It’s quite amazing, the response of Australia,” he said.
“In France, everyone gathers in every small village on Bastille Day and there’s music and dancing in the streets.
“It’s free of politics and all that. Bastille was the moment everyone gathered to celebrate freedom and joy in the streets and we’re inviting everyone to share that.
“Every expression of unity is important at the moment.”
The festival also includes Nordic and Latin villages with food and music from Spain, Italy, Germany, Greece and other European countries.
“Even though we are completely different people in Europe, we share the same sort of love for good food, wine and street art, and the point is we’re gathering people together under those values,” Mr Hernandez said.
“During the festival last year, my friend took a photo of an old couple dancing in front of the stage at Customs House.
“That’s exactly why we do this, we want everyone to join and celebrate together and have fun on the streets.”
The Bastille Festival runs until Sunday at Circular Quay.
article from http://www.smh.com.au by Pallavi Singhal