The fireworks of the National Day lit up the Eiffel Tower this Monday, July 13, 2026, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, above the Champ de Mars lawn. Twelve tableaux, 1600 luminous drones, a Concert de Paris to open: the City of Paris had promised a grand show. We were there, and the evening handed us a few surprises that the programme hadn’t anticipated.
The opening display was delayed: announced for 11 p.m., the fireworks started a little late, under winds that had risen over the Trocadéro. Nothing to hinder the drone ballet, which remained perfectly on course. A shower of rain, in fact, came to cool Paris just after the finale, almost an involuntary climactic note to the heatwave that had pressed on the capital for several days.
The show unfolded in twelve acts, each with its own duration and artistic intent:
Two segments stood out for the city hall: the 70th anniversary of the Paris–Rome twinning, and the tribute to the 400th anniversary of the French Navy. The Seine remains the thread that runs through the whole affair, as is often the case.
On the soundtrack front, a deliberate jump between classical music, French pop, and hard-hitting club sounds.
Along the way, a few obvious correspondences stand out: La Dolce Vita for the Roman tableau, Debussy’s La Mer, and Anne Sylvestre’s T’en souviens-tu la Seine? for the aquatic sequences. The piece builds toward a crescendo, with a finale crafted to make the Champ de Mars sing.
The technical display remains impressive. 1600 ultra-light drones (compared with 1000 last year), equipped with LEDs and 360° diffusers, traced their choreographed figures around the tower. Added to this were 120 firing posts, more than 80 of which were installed on the monument, 50 projectors embedded in the structure, and roughly a hundred technicians and performers mobilized for months. The Eiffel Tower was, by the way, closed to the public all day for the installation.
Before the first fireworks, the Concert de Paris kicked off the evening, hosted by Stéphane Bern and broadcast on France 2 and France Inter. The National Orchestra of France, the Choir and the Radio France Choir performed under the baton of Daniel Harding, with soloists Gautier Capuçon, Marina Viotti, Jakub Józef Orliński and Corinne Winters. The concert had been moved to 9:45 PM, with the site opening at 8 PM, following a decision by the Police Prefecture to limit the public’s heat exposure.
The rendezvous has been moved up by a day. Paris and Nice had announced at the end of May that the festivities would be shifted, to give full space to remembrance on the tenth anniversary of the Nice attack, which occurred on July 14, 2016 on the Promenade des Anglais, leaving 86 dead, including 15 minors, and 458 wounded. The military parade on the Champs-Élysées is indeed maintained for Tuesday morning, July 14, 2026.
Please note that it's been over 4 years since our last visit, so the place and experience may have changed.
Location
Eiffel Tower
Avenue Gustave Eiffel
75007 Paris 7
Route planner
Accessibility info
Access
Metro and RER: Line 6 or 9 "Trocadéro" station Line 6 "Bir-Hakeim" station RER C "Champ de Mars - Tour Eiffel" station
Prices
Free
Recommended age
For all
