For the first time since 1945, France has called off the annual military parade along the Champs-Elysees in Paris for Bastille Day, as per an AFP report.
Bastille Day, that falls on July 14, marks the storming of the Bastille fortress, an event that launched the French Revolution.
President Emmanuel Macron will host a scaled-down Bastille Day ceremony because of the coronavirus pandemic and also address the French in a rare television interview as fears grow over a potential second wave of infections. The President, with the televised interview, is renewing another tradition.
In the interview, Macron plans to share with the nation, his plans for overcoming the devastating social-economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Around 2,000 soldiers -- half the usual number -- will gather at the Place de la Concorde.
Crowds will not be allowed near the Concorde square. Just 2,500 guests will be spread out on viewing benches and only a handful of tanks and other military equipment on display.
The French air force will still carry out its traditional flyovers of the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysees, including an A400M transport plane, used to evacuate Covid-19 patients from overwhelmed hospitals at the height of the crisis.
There will be the usual display of fireworks for Bastille Day, but, parks near the Eiffel Tower will be closed to prevent overcrowding. Fireworks display in some areas has completely been called off to avoid contagion. The celebrations will conclude with a rendition of the national anthem La Marseillaise and a flyover of the Patrouille de France acrobatics jets trailing blue, white and red smoke in honour of frontline health workers.
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The ritual of a televised interview on Bastille Day was abandoned by Macron three years ago, but, his government is facing pressure to prove it will rise to the unprecedented challenges.
The country, which was one of the worst affected nations in Europe by the pandemic has managed to overcome it. But, doctors continue urging people to wear masks in public places and maintain social distancing norms to thwart the chances of a second wave of infections.
Macron’s government is faced with the challenge to raise a nation that is reeling under a recession and recover effects of loss from hundreds and thousands of jobs lost during the pandemic.
