At a time when some Americans are boycotting things French, Princeton is set to celebrate Bastille Day again.
By: Jennifer Potash
At a time when some Americans are boycotting French foods and products, Princeton is preparing to break out the Champagne and welcome the return of an old tradition celebration of Bastille Day.
Palmer Square will be the site of the daylong celebration of the French independence day July 14.
Bastille Day was last celebrated in Palmer Square in 1997, following a nine-year run. Officials said declining interest among sponsors led to the decision to stop the celebration.
"It was primarily based on our desire to throw a party on the square," said David Newton, vice president of Palmer Square Management, explaining why the celebration was coming back.
Bastille Day recognizes the end of the monarchy and the beginning of the First Republic.
The rebellion at the Bastille, a garrison prison that housed French political rabble-rousers and troublemakers from prominent families, was started by rioters on July 14, 1789, at the height of the French Revolution. The rioters seized the prison, killed the warden and liberated seven inmates, none of them political prisoners.
The Bastille Day Committee, comprising representatives from Palmer Square, Nassau Inn, Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce and Borough Merchants for Princeton and Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton Borough), sent out a letter this week to local businesses asking for support for the celebration.
Past Bastille Day events included food, drink, live entertainment and the "Waiter’s Race."
Palmer Square is seeking sponsorship from area businesses ranging from $250 to $1,000, according to the letter sent to merchants. Preliminary plans call for "festive" music and concession stands offering French foods and spirits, according to the letter.
Kristin Appelget, who recently became the president of the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce, said she enjoyed past Bastille Day celebrations and asked Palmer Square about the possibility of re-establishing the event.
"It’s a fun event and a great way to bring people downtown," she said.
Beth Perino, president of the Borough Merchants for Princeton, added that July is typically a slow month for retailers so any event that draws people to the downtown is a boon for all merchants.
Mr. Newton quipped that Mr. Gusciora’s interest really stemmed from wanting to run in the popular Waiter’s Race.
The race involves wait staff from participating bars and restaurants as well as ordinary citizens running around Palmer Square while balancing a Champagne bottle and flute glasses on a tray.
While he would like to participate in the race, in which he took third place in 1997, Mr. Gusciora said the Bastille Day event is really about celebrating liberty.
"That’s really important during a time of international crisis," Mr. Gusciora said.
Bastille Day organizers are unconcerned about potential protests stemming from the cooling Franco-American relations over potential military action in Iraq. Some Americans have boycotted French products and one restaurant in North Carolina renamed french fries as freedom fries.
"Political whims change and go," Ms. Appelget said.
Ms. Perino said she had not received any calls from merchants concerned the event would bring protesters or boycotts.
Mr. Gusciora said the French should be supported for "slowing down the drive to war by President Bush."
Or one could merely take the view of the English that this is how the French always behave, said Mr. Newton, a native of Britain.
Other downtown merchants take a positive view of a Bastille Day celebration.
Paul Mason, manager of Les Copins, a Witherspoon Street restaurant specializing in French-American cuisine, said he was glad to hear about the return of the Bastille Day celebration.
"It’s a very good thing and I am interested to hear more about it," said Mr. Mason, a past winner of the Waiter’s Race.
Ray Wadsworth, who owns the Flower Mart on Witherspoon Street and serves as chairman of Spirit of Princeton, the nonprofit citizens’ organization that produces the Memorial Day parade and Independence Day fireworks, said he welcomes the annual French celebration back to the borough.
"It sounds good that it’s going to come back," Mr. Wadsworth said.
Caroline Lareuse, a Princeton Township resident who is an honorary consul of France for Princeton and was awarded with the French Order of Merit in 2001, said she welcomes the return of Bastille Day celebration in Princeton, although she never attended the event in the past.
"For the past 40 years, we’ve been in France for Bastille Day," said Ms. Lareuse.
Princeton has a special affinity for things Gallic the borough’s sister city is Colmar. And Trinity Counseling Services hold a yearly fund-raising event on Bastille Day.

