Storm the Bastille Day Fête at Corson Building Tomorrow

Just over a week ago, we celebrated our own anniversary breaking free of the monarchy and declaring our country to be all about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with pyrotechnics. Tomorrow, Bastille Day, provides an opportunity to consider how things might have turned out of we'd instead set our sights on liberty, equality, and fraternity. While it might be nicer to spend 14 July on the Champs-Élysées commemorating the symbolic prison charge that stoked the 1789 French Revolution, there's a jet lag-friendly option in Georgetown.

The Adventure School is once again teaming up with the Corson Building to throw a Bastille Day Fête. The party starts in the late afternoon with kid-friendly activities like chicken races, carnival games, bike-powered hi-jinks, and the incredible illusions of Andrew Evans. As the evening progresses Caspar Babypants, Jason Webley, and Mad Rad’s DJ Darwin will provide a lively soundtrack. Throughout the event, French circus performers and aerialists are bound to dazzle while the likes of Wylie Bush, Matt Dillon, and Molly Moon provide snacks. 

Entry to this provincial party will cost you $35, a fee that's thriftier than a nonstop to Charles de Gaulle and includes drink tickets to stoke your francophile proclivities. It's not cheap, but entirely worthwhile: even if the Adventure School wasn't run by pals, I still think I'd count last year's party among favorite summer events. From the bounce house to the falafel wagon and all of the photo booths and fake mustaches in between, their events embrace a spirit of sophisticated whimsy and are reliably inspired, well organized, incredibly creative, and a lot of fun. This year, the carnival atmosphere materializes at 3 p.m. and lasts until midnight: plenty of time to put in a leisurely morning of work before donning stripes and spiriting off to celebrate another take on freedom.

• Bastille Day Fête. The Corson Building (5609 Corson Ave S.). $35 includes drink tickets. (adventureschool)