Bastille Day 2012 Block Party in Chicago

Bastille Day celebration near Chain Bridge (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: The Champs-Élysées decorated with flags for Bastille Day (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Attend the annual Bastille Day 5K & 8K Run, Walk & Block Party. Party with your Parisian buddies like they do on the Champs-Elysees after the annual military parade on July 14th.

PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 14: Paris firemen perform on the Champs-Elysees during the annual Bastille day parade on July 14, 2011 in Paris, France. The French National Day celebrates its revolution in the1789 through various parades in the storming of the Bastille in 1789 through various parades and official ceremonies throughout France. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

English: Horseman of the French Republican Guard during the 2007 military parade on the Champs-Élysées. Français : Cavalier de la Garde républicaine à cheval pendant le défilé du 14 juillet 2007 sur les Champs-Élysées. Español: Sargento 1ro. de los Gendarmes montados del Regimiento de Caballería de la Guardia Republicana, durante la parada militar del 14 de julio del año 2007 en los Champs-Élysées en Paris. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bastille Day commemorates storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789; the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison. This date is heralded as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation and the beginning of the French Revolution.

Bastille day (Photo credit: evilnick)

The the Block Party in Chicago starts at 8:30pm at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum (2430 N Cannon Dr). The French national holiday is honored with French food and live music.

Festivities and official ceremonies are held all over France. The oldest and largest regular military parade in Europe is held on the morning of 14 July, on the Champs-Élysées avenue in Paris in front of the President of the Republic,