France's Bastille Day parade showcases European support for Ukraine

This year’s Bastille Day celebrations aren’t just about France. Troops and warplanes from around Europe joined Tuesday’s pomp-filled parade through Paris, in a showcase of support for Ukraine and proof of European military strength.

On President Emmanuel Macron’s last Bastille Day as president, he hosted 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.

Macron's wife, Brigitte, welcomed leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as they arrived for the celebrations. Zelensky got an ovation from the assembled dignitaries.

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Meanwhile, raging forest fires and a red-alert heatwave 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’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 centerpiece is the traditional Paris parade beneath the Napoleon-era Arc de Triomphe and along the Champs-Élysées avenue, which inspired Trump to stage his own parade last year.

'Coalition of the willing'

Zelensky joined Macron along with some 30 other heads of state or government in the special viewing area for the parade.

Ukrainian military forces marched along the cobblestoned avenue, and Ukrainian co-pilots trained in France flew two Mirage 2000B fighter jets alongside French air force pilots.

Macron said Monday night that it was 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″.

On the ground, the parade opened 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 took part.

The parade set a record in terms of number of troops with 6,800 troops taking part in the marching parade this year, compared with 5,810 in 2025.

Forest fires are raging in the Fontainebleau forest south of Paris and in areas of southern France, as the country suffers through its third heatwave this year. As a result, authorities in some regions – including the French capital – banned fireworks and firefighters' balls customarily held around Bastille Day.

Read moreParis landmarks close early as France swelters under third heatwave since May

The Eiffel Tower's drone light show was maintained, however, and held Monday night.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)