Bastille Day parade requires online registration for first time amid 'European strategic awakening' theme
For the first time, the public must register online to attend the Bastille Day parade on the Champs-Élysées, as France showcases what officials call 'Europe's strategic awakening' with record troop numbers and international guests.
For the first time in its history, attending the military parade on the Champs-Élysées for Bastille Day will require preregistration and a QR code. The Paris police prefecture announced on 9 July that, due to the presence of numerous foreign heads of state, all spectators must sign up online and present a nominative QR code with valid ID at one of 12 filtering points.
A digital first for security
Entry to the perimeter between Place Charles-de-Gaulle and Place Clemenceau will open at 7:30, with the parade running from 9:50 to noon. No attendance cap has been set; tens of thousands are expected as usual.
Registrations opened on Thursday morning, and while on‑the‑spot sign‑up will be possible, authorities urge advance booking.The party must remain a party.
- Spectator access to the Champs-Élysées perimeter begins
- Parade start
- Parade end
Record numbers and modernized army
This year’s parade will be the largest on foot in recent years, with around 6,800 troops marching (including 6,686 French service members). 500 soldiers from the 35‑nation Coalition of the Willing will lead, followed by 25 Ukrainian soldiers. The total contingent reaches 8,500 participants, supported by 300 vehicles (100 motorcycles), 95 aircraft, 35 helicopters and 193 Republican Guard horses.
- Foot troops
- 6500 count
- Vehicles
- 300 count
- Aircraft
- 95 count
- Helicopters
- 35 count
- Horses
- 193 count
For the first time, aircraft carrying dummy weapons will fly over, and helicopters will operate above tanks to replicate battlefield conditions. The Élysée says these additions deliver a “strategic signal” of an army modernised under a defence budget that will have doubled between 2017 and 2026.
European solidarity on display
President Emmanuel Macron has invited all 35 Coalition of the Willing countries, and about thirty heads of state and government are expected, including Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of Germany, Italy and Spain. Two Ukrainian co‑pilots will join the Patrouille de France’s opening flypast.A strong symbol of Europe becoming aware of the danger of the world and the need to take its destiny in hand.
The end of an era for Macron
This will be the tenth and final Bastille Day parade for Emmanuel Macron as head of state. The Élysée states the event illustrates both “France’s strategic rearmament and the European strategic awakening.” Macron has attended each parade since his 2017 election, and the 2026 edition closes his presidential tenure with a display of continental defence cooperation.
