Local Bastille Day Celebration Says 'Viva La France,' At Eastern State Penitentiary
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Thursday's deadly Bastille Day celebration left a country in mourning, here in Philadelphia, a popular Bastille Day event is held each year in the city's Fairmount neighborhood, but in light of current events, will it happen this year?
The folks over at Eastern State Penitentiary celebrated Bastille Day with a huge performance and celebration on Fairmount Avenue. Sean Kelly, Senior vice President at Eastern State Penitentiary says since Bastille Day is not a national holiday here in the United States, they tend to celebrate France's Independence Day on the weekend, and he said Saturday's celebration is a go!
"We think that now, more than ever, this is the year to really celebrate Bastille Day," Kelly said. "Bastille Day is a celebration of freedom and it's a celebration of unity and so we say, viva la France, let the show go on."
But not without acknowledging this week's Bastille Day terrorist truck attack in Nice.
"We're going to acknowledge the tragedy in France. So we'll have a moment of silence," he said. "We're going to actually chant viva la France with the audience; and then we're going to throw the best show we've ever thrown!"
The afternoon festival begins at 2:30, followed by the bearded ladies cabaret reenactment of the storming of the Bastille at 5:30.