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Seattle's French Fest: A Celebration of French-Speaking Cultures will take place on March 19, 2023: 11am-5pm at the Armory Food & Event Hall. The festival is part of the Seattle Center Festál series.

Seattle Center Festál is a year-round series of 24 free cultural festivals, produced in partnership with community organizations. In 2022, Festál celebrated 25 years of stories and traditions, ushering in a new era of hybrid programming. Learn more about Festál and subscribe to the  newsletter for updates.

This year, the festival honors the French gastronomy, inviting bakeries, restaurants, chocolate companies, etc. to participate. By showcasing artists and groups from French-speaking cultures, French Fest aims to raise awareness among French and American audiences about the importance of the French language in the world.

Event Schedule

Armory Main Stage & Floor

TIME ACTIVITY/PERFORMANCE
11:00am-11:30 am Bienvenue and Schools Choir
11:30am-12:00pm Opening Ceremony:

Frédéric Choinière, Master of Ceremonies

Didier Poirier, FEN President

Ariane Ogier, FEN Executive Director and Honorary Consul

Frédéric Jung, Consulate General of France in San Francisco

Nathalie Beaudoin, Consul and Program Manager, Foreign Policy and Diplomatic Service | Consulate General of Canada

Darijo Bošnjak, Acting Director of Workforce and Talent Development | Québec Trade Office in Silicon Valley

Philippe Goetschel, Honorary Consul of Switzerland in Seattle
12:00pm-12:10pm Presentation: Children's Authors
12:15pm-12:45pm Sponsor Videos/Projections
1:00pm-1:15pm Te Fare O Tematoa
1:30pm-2:15pm The Beau Goss Band
2:30pm-3:15pm Gansango Music and Dance
3:30pm-3:45pm Baguette & Art Contests Winners Announced!
4:00pm-4:30pm Ça Gaze Band
4:30pm-5:00pm Closing Ceremony
Air Tahiti Nui Raffle Winner Announced!
Armory Loft Lobby - Cooking Demonstrations
TIME DEMONSTRATION
12:15pm-12:45pm Chef Anne-Laure Ropars
Chocolate mendiants
1:15pm-1:45pm Chef Laurence Boris
Tarte à la vanille Muscovado
2:15pm-2:45pm Chef Didier Poirier
Moules marinières
Armory Loft 2 - Wine Tastings
TIME SESSION
11:30 am-12:15pm French cocktails with BCI
12:30pm-1:15pm Willamette Valley Wine Tasting with Domaine Résonance
1:30pm-2:15pm Four French regions Wine Tasting with Cépaé
2:30pm-3:15pm Cider & Brandy Tasting with French Cider and Spirits
3:30pm-4:15pm Languedoc-Roussillon Wine Tasting with The Princess & The Bear
Armory Loft 3 - Conferences
TIME ACTIVITY
12:15pm-2:00pm

Children books signing presented by Made in France & SJJ

Join renowned children's literature authors and illustrators Alex Cousseau, Hervé Le Goff, and Edouard Manceau for Selfie Time and get your books signed.

The books are available only before the event, for purchase in the partner schools: The French American School of Puget Sound and North Seattle French School.

Made in France promotes the French language and Francophone cultures through the organization of festivals and tours of artists and authors. All these festivals are developed in partnership with local schools, organizations, or institutions.

2:15pm-3:45pm “French for All” presented by Consulate General of France in San Francisco
4:00pm-4:45pm “Planning for the Unexpected” presented by Merrill Lynch
Armory Loft 4 - Film Screenings
TIME FILM
12:15pm-1:00pm Screening of “Ousmane” by Jorge Camarotti

Ousmane, a newly arrived immigrant living in Montreal, faces a challenging situation when he meets an elderly disoriented lady at the end of his workday.

Sponsored by: Québec Government Office in Los Angeles
1:15pm-2:45pm Screening of “La gang des hors-la-loi” (with English subtitles), from Jean Beaudin (2014)

His father having just died at sea, young Nicolas intends to spend the summer at the baseball field of his small village with his friends.

Sponsored by: Consulate General of Canada in Seattle 
3:00pm-4:00pm Screening of “Jean-Michel Basquiat, l’Afrique au coeur”

The French documentary Jean-Michel Basquiat, l'Afrique au cœur, looks back over this art legend and analyzes how Africa influenced his work and psyche.

Sponsored by: TV5 Monde USA 
Armory Balcony 
TIME ACTIVITY
11:00am-5:00pm Photo Exhibition:
12:00pm-3:00pm Baguette Contest

BOOTHS & VENDORS


View the 2022 highlights below:

Festál Newsletter Sign-Up

Photo Gallery

OVERVIEW
Seattle Center Festál presents Seattle’s French Fest: A Celebration of French Speaking Cultures in partnership with France Education Northwest (FEN).

Seattle’s French Fest celebrates the diversity of traditions, ideas, dialects, and more, that comprises French-speaking cultures around the world. While France is often the most well-known French-speaking country for people in the U.S., there are many other countries and places all around the world where French is spoken. French and several similar dialects are even spoken by groups in the U.S., particularly in Louisiana.

The festival aims to embrace this diversity of French-speaking cultures in the types of activities offered at the event. It promotes the French idea of “joie de vivre” through music, dancing, cooking demonstrations, film screenings, wine tastings, baguette tasting contest, and more. Each year, there are live performances on the main stage featuring traditional dance and music from French-speaking countries or in the French language. 

HISTORY

France Education Northwest (FEN), founded in 2008, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The organization was started by leading members of Seattle’s French American community, including many members of the French American Chamber of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest, to focus on education and promotion of French culture. FEN’s founders were particularly driven by a desire to reach out to and inspire youth. While FEN serves these goals in a variety of ways, from cooking classes to visiting local schools, the festival is by far FEN’s biggest and most accessible event.

Seattle’s French Fest: A Celebration of French-Speaking Cultures draws inspiration from the “International Day of Francophonie,” a celebration organized in over 100 countries every March 20th to honor and showcase the diversity of Francophone cultures and traditions. Francophone means French-speaking, and can be used to describe people, cultures, and regions. The term “francophonie,” however, describes more than just a linguistic or geographic connection to France. “Francophonie” describes a unifying sense of belonging to and appreciation for Francophone values and culture.

The festival is an important part of FEN’s founding mission, acting as a catalyst for our local public, no matter their background, to learn about and share in celebrating French and French-Speaking cultures. The festival first opened in 2013 and has since taken place every year during the spring. Even though the festival is just one-day long, it is one of the West Coast’s largest Francophone-themed festivals. For its deep-rooted belief in the importance of appreciating and learning about diverse cultures, Seattle’s French Fest: A Celebration of French Speaking Cultures, is and will continue to be a celebration of French-speaking cultures around the world.

DID YOU KNOW?

  • There are 29 countries where French is an official language, and 31 countries that are considered Francophone. There are also several smaller regions and groups where French is spoken.
Learn more about France Education Northwest (FEN).
Visit FEN Website

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