Macron Presides Over Bastille Day Parade and Nice Attack Tribute

President Macron presided over Bastille Day commemorations on July 14, 2026, including a military parade in Paris and a ceremony in Nice. Eighty-six empty blue chairs were placed in a semicircle on a French tricolor flag at Place Masséna in Nice. The arrangement marked the tenth anniversary of the July 14, 2016 truck attack on the Promenade des Anglais.

A driver killed 86 people and wounded 450 others by driving a 19-metric-ton truck through the crowd after fireworks. Police shot the attacker at the scene.

Macron stated that 86 lives were stolen, including 15 children, and that thousands more were wounded in spirit. He said the victims have become part of France's collective memory. The president told survivors that the state will never abandon them. He added that the Republic and France are present and that no name, face, or story has been forgotten.

The Nice ceremony followed the Paris military parade earlier the same day.