Join Fort Ticonderoga for a lively one-day celebration to taste French cuisine and explore the culture of the Champlain Valley! From Pâté to poutine, enjoy the best bistro bites from across our region. Discover the deep French and Canadian cultural roots along the shores of Lake Champlain and their epic military stories!
“Fort Ticonderoga’s signature stories include the epic defense of French Canada from 1755 to 1759,” said Stuart Lilie, Fort Ticonderoga VP of Public History. “Marks from the French-occupied fort (Fort Carillon) are literally in the bedrock here at Ticonderoga. The related French culture continues to enrich the Champlain Valley today. This exciting event celebrates the deep French roots and culinary fruits in our region!”
Featured programs include cooking demonstrations with Chef Robert Barral of Café Provence. Watch as he prepares classic French Hors d’Oeuvers, Tomato Pie and Chicken Niçoise with samples to enjoy! At 12:30 p.m. & 2:30 p.m., enjoy a French Canadian Folk Concert featuring Vermont’s Va-et-Vient (‘Come & Go’). Watch as these musiciennes take you through the centuries from France to Québec and New Orleans with lively dance numbers, touching love songs, kickin’ Cajun and Créole tunes, and rollicking Québecois favorites.
Highlighted activities and programs offered throughout the day include cheese tasting from regional vendors; Carillon boat cruises on Lake Champlain; guided tours in the fort, King’s Garden, and museum exhibition spaces; historic trades programs; ongoing living history programs; one-of-a-king French 18th century weapons demonstrations; French soldiers’ cooking demonstrations; the Mount Defiance experience; and the Carillon Battlefield hiking trail.
A full visitor schedule of this lively French-inspired event can be found at www.fortticonderoga.org.
About Fort Ticonderoga:
Welcoming visitors since 1909, Fort Ticonderoga preserves North America’s largest 18th-century artillery collection, 2,000 acres of historic landscape on Lake Champlain, and Carillon Battlefield, and the largest series of untouched Revolutionary War era earthworks surviving in America. As a multi-day destination and the premier place to learn more about our nation’s earliest years and America’s military heritage, Fort Ticonderoga engages more than 75,000 visitors each year with an economic impact of more than $12 million annually and offers programs, historic interpretation, boat cruises, tours, demonstrations, and exhibits throughout the year, and is open for daily visitation May through October. Fort Ticonderoga is supported in part through generous donations and with some general operating support made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
This event is made possible, in part, by the Essex County Arts Council’s Cultural Assistance Program Grant with funding provided by Essex County.