Bastille Day in Marseille: ARTEVENTIA sets the Old Port ablaze in 2024 and 2025

In Marseille, July 14th is never just a simple fireworks display. It is a popular gathering, a moment suspended between sea and sky, where the entire city comes together around the Old Port to celebrate Bastille Day.

In 2024 and 2025, ARTEVENTIA & PANZERA had the honour of designing and producing these two major pyrotechnic frescoes, launched from the Old Port basin and the Citadel, delivering spectacular staging that blends heritage, sea and light.

2024 — Marseille celebrates the Olympic Games

In 2024, Marseille pulsed to the rhythm of the Olympic Games. As host city for the sailing events of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, the Phocaean city was immersed in an exceptional sporting and international energy.

The show imagined by ARTEVENTIA paid tribute to this global event through a powerful, symbolic creation:

• Dynamic sequences evoking effort, performance and pushing beyond one’s limits

• Luminous tableaux inspired by the Olympic rings

• A rhythmic, progressive, unifying musical score

• Majestic aerial effects in dialogue between the sea and the Citadel

The simultaneous firing from the Old Port basin and the heights of the Citadel created spectacular depth, transforming the Marseille sky into a monumental arena of light.

For nearly 25 minutes, the harbour blazed in a meticulously choreographed scenography, acclaimed by tens of thousands of spectators gathered on the quays, surrounding hills and terraces.

2025 — Blue White Red… Marseille

In 2025, the show carried a strong, identity-driven theme:

“Blue White Red… Marseille”

A celebration that was both national and deeply local.

The sky was adorned with monumental tricolour waves!

The show played on the contrast between republican tradition and Marseille pride, with an immersive soundtrack and finales of exceptional intensity.

The dialogue between the two firing zones — sea and heritage — made it possible to create unprecedented perspectives, enveloping the audience in a true showcase of light.

A distinctive artistic and technical signature

Producing Bastille Day in Marseille means meeting several requirements:

• A complex setup between the Old Port and the Citadel

• Extreme precision in terms of safety

• An artistic narrative capable of speaking to an entire city

In both 2024 and 2025, ARTEVENTIA & PANZERA delivered ambitious creations, combining popular emotion, technical performance and contemporary pyrotechnic writing.

Bastille Day in Marseille is not only a fireworks display.
It is a collective breath, a moment of communion, a sky that tells a story.

And we are proud to have been its artisans.