Last weekend, we spent some time in one of our favorite areas of Dallas: Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff. Each year around Bastille Day, local neighborhood organization Go Oak Cliff holds a French festival called Bastille on Bishop with food, wine, games, and live music.
Bastille Day commemorates the storming of Bastille during the French Revolution, and it is an opportunity to celebrate French culture much like the 4th of July in America. This was our first time to celebrate, but it certainly won’t be our last.
Checking In to Bastille on Bishop
In order to maximize efficiency and minimize long lines, Go Oak Cliff sold event wine glasses and food tokens online before the day of the event. They also offered a limited number of each at the main entrance. One event wine glass and two food tokens were priced at $18, and individual food tokens were $6 a piece. Only guests with the official Bastille glasses could participate in the wine tents and drink outside while they enjoyed the festival.
Stepping Into the French Spirit
All over Bishop Arts District the local businesses joined in the French fun. Many storefronts were adorned with French flags and banners. Positioned right at the entrance to the festival, these ladies from the florist shop Dirt were dressed in full French Revolution costumes and looked like a scene straight out of Les Mis!
White Rock Soap Gallery certainly knew the way straight to my heart. They were giving away FREE macarons to every guest! We snacked on raspberry and pistachio treats and felt a little bit more French with every bite.
In the middle of the festival was the perfect prop for photos: a little Eiffel Tower. La Madeleine offered guests free berets and tiny mustaches to use as props in photos and to take home as souvenirs.
Feasting on French Festival Food
The food was by far our favorite part of the whole event! We decided to skip the wine tents and go straight for some crepes. With our food tokens in hand, we munched our way through the rest of the evening.
Dallas Grilled Cheese Co. has been on our list of restaurants to try for a long time. After gulping down these grilled cheese strips with the house tomato soup, we will absolutely be repeat customers! I’m not usually a big tomato fan, but I could not get enough of this stuff.
We also scored a delicious sandwich on a thick and chewy baguette from La Madeline. But the real star of the show was yet to come. I had been craving a Nutella crepe since I caught wind of this event, and I was not to be disappointed.
If I weren’t already married to Austin, I would marry this “Nutella Royale” crepe from Crepe Crazy. It was paper thin and filled with the perfect mixture of banana, strawberries, and Nutella. Days later I am still dreaming about how delicious it was!
Live Entertainment
All across Bishop Arts District market vendors and local bands mingled against the regular local storefronts so that there was bustling activity and lively music everywhere. Spinster Records welcomed guests with happy tunes near the event entrance, a french singer set the mood beside the Eiffel Tower, a trio of trumpets belted out notes beside the market, and at the end of the street acrobats contorted themselves while suspended in the air.
There is always something fun going on in the Bishop Arts District!
We had so much fun this year at Bastille on Bishop, and we have decided to make this annual festival a tradition. If you missed out on the French fun this year, don’t despair! There is always something fun happening in Bishop Arts. This coming weekend (July 21-22) the district merchants association is holding a Christmas in July event. Even on a typical weekend, there are plenty of fantastic local shops and restaurants to try. If you have never explored the Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff for yourself, spend a weekend discovering everything it has to offer.
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