New Rochelle Celebrates Bastille Day With French Sister City

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Locals will get a taste of French festivities in a special celebration this month.

Members of New Rochelle's Sister City Initiative Committee and Sister City Committee, as well as city staff, were on hand at the queen city of the sound's Bastille Day celebration last year in front of City Hall.
Photo Credit: *The Daily Voice File Photo*

by Suzanne Samin

07/12/2013 5:00 a.m.

The city has invited two people from its sister city of La Rochelle, France to join in celebrating Bastille Day with a ceremony on Friday in front of City Hall.

Bastille Day commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison and rise of France as a modern nation. It is traditionally celebrated every year on its anniversary, July 14.

The two sister city representatives will be Jeremy Vilquin, a graduate student from the University of La Rochelle, and Milo Mazurie, a jazz trumpet player who will be taking the stage in the New Rochelle Jazz Fest on July 13 and 14.

The ceremony will include a greeting by Mayor Noam Bramson, a short talk by James S. Kaplan, Esq. and Sister City Committee member, entitled “Bastille Day and the Statue of Liberty: Linking Democracy”, and an explanation on “Why We Celebrate Bastille Day” by Peter Korn of the Sister City Initiative.

Attendees will watch a flag raising ceremony and sing, “La Marseillaise”, the French national anthem, and "The Star Spangled Banner,” at the conclusion.

The event is being held to commemorate New Rochelle’s 325th anniversary of when it was founded by the French Huguenots. A light reception will take place afterwards immediately following the event.

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