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PARIS (Reuters) – France celebrated Bastille Day on Saturday with a colorful military parade in Paris chaired by President Emmanuel Macron, and hoped the party would continue on Sunday when the national soccer team meets Croatia in the World Cup final in Russia.
Bastille Day commemorates the storming of a prison in 1789, a key event in the French Revolution.
After U.S. President Donald Trump in 2017, Macron this year invited the leaders of Japan and Singapore, two Asian nations with long-standing strategic partnership with France.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was killed at the time, was represented by Foreign Minister Taro Kono.
The more than two-hour parade, with some 4,200 soldiers, 220 vehicles and around 100 aircrafts, saw Japanese and Singaporean soldiers take part as guests of honor.
There were two glitches, though, as, two motorcycles collided during a demonstration in front of guests, while an air force patrol.
France has mobilized around 110,000 security staff for the Bastille Day festivities and World Cup soccer final.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take to the streets, from Paris to the smallest of villages, and the celebrations are likely to continue long into the night of the World Cup for the second time.
"Perhaps it will be us marching on the Champs Elysees tomorrow, we hope," said Philippe on BFM Television, who traveled to Paris to watch the parade and plans to return on Sunday to celebrate if France wins.
Reporting by Bate Felix; Editing by Mark Potter
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Tags Bastille Champs day Elysees France39s Macron marks Parade
