Los Angeles: Get your France fix at the Bastille Day Festival, Sunday, July 13

Have high gas prices and pricey airfares left you moping at home? Are you going to strangle the next person (even if it is me) who suggests you “stay-cate” at a local hotel to relieve your itchy feet? Well, I won’t pretend it’s as good as going anywhere that requires a passport, but for something fun and educational that won’t require a whole lot of cash, you can festival-hop, a great way to immerse yourself in various cultures within our incredibly culturally rich region. In fact, you can start this weekend, and in a revolutionary way, by celebrating a day of (instead of in, sadly) France.

Join French Angelenos, Francophiles and those just looking for a good party at the seventh annual Bastille Day L.A. Festival in West Hollywood this Sunday, one day before July 14, the official Bastille Day.

The day’s scheduled happenings include a tournament of petanque (the French version of lawn bowling or bocce ball), a “Parisian Waiters Race,” musical performers and comedians, food vendors, sidewalk cafes and, naturally, plenty of red and white vin. Oh, and the best part for the moping traveler? There will be a raffle in which you could win a free trip to Paris or Tahiti.

When: Sunday, July 13, 2008; noon-10 p.m.

Where: West Hollywood Park, 647 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood

Cost: $5; free for kids

Contact: Bastille Day Los Angeles, (323) 656-6083

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: AFP / Getty Images]

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This entry was posted on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 9:00 am by Susan Derby and is filed under California, Contest & Sweepstakes, Family & Kids, Festival, Los Angeles, Summer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.