Four(teen)th of July (for France)

America's Independence Day may be over, but those freedom-loving individuals wandering around Harvard Square this (surprisingly sunny and not rain-filled) Sunday were still able to indulge in another country's red, white, and blue. Bastille Day, France's national holiday commemorating the July 14th storming of the Bastille prison 220 years ago, came to Holyoke Street today as revelers scarfed down cheaper offerings from local restaurants such as Finale's and Rialto and downed alcohol in a roped off area in front of Cambridge Savings Bank designated the "Beer Garden."

Festivities started at 3 p.m. The crowd reached over a thousand, no doubt lured by the numerous covers of La Vie En Rose tunes issuing from the main stage set up at the head of Holyoke Street. Accordion players, jazzy bands, and Edith Piaf wannabes provided a prelude for the "Traditional French Waiter's Race." Servers from participating restaurants balanced plates bearing plastic cups filled with water and raced up and down the street for the grand prize of a round-trip Jet Blue ticket. "Too easy," someone shouted from the Beer Garden.

An Afro-Brazilian dance troupe followed, and at 8pm, DJ Kamal from Boston French Party (according to Google, a "monthly club night" created to bring together "a disconnected French population") took over the stage. "Now everyone here can dance and listen to what all the young and French are actually listening to these days," said Robin A. Lapidus, Harvard Square Business Association's director of marketing. After all that pseudo-French food, some dancing might just be a good idea.