This weekend is the Bastille Day Festival in Franschhoek. Traditionally Bastille day has very little to do with South Africa and everything to do with the French Revolution and the storming of the Bastille in 1789, signifying the uprising of a modern French nation. Although French Huguenot settlers did come to South Africa looking for religious freedom, they were at least a century too early to be regarded as revolutionaries, but we do commemorate their descendants and the role they played in what is now, an incredibly lucrative wine industry in SA.

Traditional French festivities will be found intertwined with South African traditions throughout the beautiful town of Franschhoek on the 17th and 18th of July, with a Minstrel parade down the main street along with a barrel rolling race and boules competition. A food and wine marquees is the perfect place to base yourself from and where local wines can be sampled and delicacies indulged in. There will be a farmers market complete with a French Quarter as well as musicians and fun activities for children.

This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Nelson Mandela from the Drakenstein Prison, situated just outside Franschhoek and is indelibly printed on each and every South Africans memory as a turning point in our own turbulent history. Bastille Day has grown over the years in Franschhoek to signify the struggles not only of those with French descent but all people who fought and worked on our soil as slaves and during Apartheid, to make South Africa the free nation that it is today.

Tickets to the food and wine marquee should be bought before hand from webtickets, they are R100 each. If you would like to make a weekend out of it, The Franschhoek is just a stone’s throw from all the action and means you can make the most of this 2 day event.