Festival Preview by Anna Kappa
It’s mid-July and you’re relaxed, sipping French wine, dining on fine French specialties, listening to the song of a chanteuse Parisienne as you soak up the warmth of the late afternoon Mediterranean sun. You must be in the south of France, spending thousands of Euros on the trip of a lifetime.
Au contraire.
Your dream vacation is no farther away than Santa Barbara’s Oak Park, on Bastille Day weekend, July 17-18. In France, Bastille Day means a celebration of the French Revolution; in Santa Barbara, it means it’s time for the 23rd annual French Festival, the largest celebration of all things French in the Western U.S.
The range of food available at the French Festival is often a revelation to attendees. According to festival director Steve Hoegerman, “The French Festival includes all of French culture, and during the Colonial era, French culture extended all over the world. The French colonized North Africa, and Indo-China, and French immigrants established themselves in the bayous of Louisiana. Therefore we include French Moroccan food, French Vietnamese food, and French Cajun food in the French Festival.”
This year’s local offerings include an assortment of crepes from Pacific Crepes, as well as Alsatian sausages prepared by the Edelweiss Choir. Sip a café au lait—or something stronger— as you enjoy the next best thing to flying to France.
Enjoy the food, stay for the fun and French-themed festivities that include can-can dancers, cabaret singers, and, bien sur, the Poodle Parade—featuring a promenade of pooches all decked out in their Parisian finery for the occasion. Making its debut this year is Petits Chanteurs, a boys’ choir from Aix-en-Provence.
The French Festival is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., July 17-18.
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