Holidays and Celebrations

French Holidays, Celebrations, and Events

Fêtes, célébrations et évènements

Learn about French holidays, festivals, and other celebrations, as well as how to talk about non-French holidays in French.

Holidays and Celebrations

Passover

The Jewish festival of Passover lasts for seven or eight days sometime in March or April. It begins on the 15th of Nisan, the first month in the Hebrew calendar.

Holidays and Celebrations

Petit Papa Noël

Listen to and read the lyrics for Petit Papa Noël, a classic French Christmas carol with no English equivalent.

  A2 - Low-Intermediate French • French Christmas Carols 

Expressions

Poisson d’avril

April fool's! Find out how the French celebrate this silly holiday.

Holidays and Celebrations

Poisson d’avril – Finis les genres !

Exclusive interview with the chairwoman of the Académie française about a historic decision: no more gender!

  A2 - Low-Intermediate French 

Holidays and Celebrations

Poisson d’avril – Un deuxpartement caraïbe

April Fool's! Upon returning to Guadeloupe from Paris, I was surprised to learn of negotiations currently underway to create a Caribbean "duopartment." Read my exclusive coverage, in French and English.

  B2 - Upper-Intermediate French 

Holidays and Celebrations

Poissons d’avril – Present Tense Quiz

Test yourself on the French present tense with this fill-in-the-blanks quiz:

   Les poissons d'avril

Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless French account to take this test. If you don't have one, sign up - it's free!

Fun with French

Pourquoi on fait des poissons d’avril ?

Find out where France's tradition of poissons d'avril came from in this cute video.

  B1 - Intermediate French 

Fun with French

Premier rendez-vous

Very fun and funny video about a young man hoping for a perfect first date.

  C1 - Advanced French 

Holidays and Celebrations

Préparatifs de Noël – Vocab Quiz

Test yourself on French Christmas vocabulary with this celebratory fill-in-the-blanks quiz:

   Préparatifs de Noël

Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless French account to take this test. If you don't have one, sign up - it's free!

Holidays and Celebrations

Préparer les fêtes – Subjunctive Quiz

Test yourself on French subjunctive conjugations with this fill-in-the-blanks test:

   Préparer les fêtes

Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless French account to take this test. If you don't have one, sign up - it's free!

Holidays and Celebrations

Prise de la Bastille

Bien que de nombreuses personnes aient une connaissance sommaire de la prise de la Bastille de 1789, la plupart d'entre elles ont été faussement amenées à croire que l'opération avait pour but de libérer les prisonniers qui y étaient retenus captifs.

  B1 - Intermediate French 

Holidays and Celebrations

Prise de la Bastille, partie 2

La fête nationale est aujourd'hui célébrée en grandes pompes en France chaque été le 14 juillet. Il s'agit d'une date historique importante, tout comme l'est le jour de l'Indépendance aux États-Unis.

  B1 - Intermediate French 

Holidays and Celebrations

Profiter des marchés de Noël

Practice your French listening comprehension while learning how to make the most of traditional Christmas markets in France. Click any French phrase for related grammar lessons as well as the English translation.

  B1 - Intermediate French 

Holidays and Celebrations

Qu’est-ce que l’Halloween ?

Discover Halloween in this lower-intermediate listening exercise from Progress with Lawless French.

  A2 - Low-Intermediate French 

Holidays and Celebrations

Quatorze Juillet

Les anglophones utilisent souvent le terme « Bastille Day » pour désigner le 14 juillet, mais il se trouve qu'en France on n'utilise pas ce terme, on dit plutôt « le 14 juillet » ou bien « la fête nationale ».

  B1 - Intermediate French