by KYW's Karin Phillips
Bastille Day celebrations begin in Philadelphia on Thursday night with a "French Fling" bar crawl and are highlighted by the "storming of the Bastille" on Saturday afternoon at a former prison in Fairmount.
Despite the presence of a real guillotine at Eastern State Penitentiary, don't expect a serious exploration of the pivotal events of the French Revolution. Bastille Day in Philadelphia is something else entirely, more histrionics than history.
But that doesn't matter, says Sean Kelley, program director at Eastern State Penitentiary. He says that thousands are attracted to the event every year to take part in a modern interpretation of "Let them eat cake":
"You haven't lived until you've seen 2,000 Krimpets fly over the medieval battlements of Eastern State and pelt small children on the ground. It's fabulous!"
Kelley (shown testing the guillotine recently with a melon) says the apparatus has got to be sharp enough for Saturday afternoon, when the crowd decides if the queen should lose her head or not.
Despite the showmanship, we are assured she doesn't. Kelley says Eastern State Penitentiary, which is normally very concerned with historical accuracy, puts on a Bastille Day celebration that's more like a Monty Python skit.
The Bastille Day festival events wrap up Sunday with French champagne brunches at participating Fairmount restaurants. For more information, go to easternstate.org.
(Photo #1 from Eastern State Penitentiary. Photo #2 by KYW's Karin Phillips)
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