“Invent happy days!” French Communist Party combines celebration and struggle at the Feast of L’Humanité

The Fête du l’Humanité will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026 and, as the largest political and cultural event in France, it is an important barometer of the country’s current situation. Politics is not the only item on the menu of this multitudinous and mega-diverse festival, which features dozens of artistic attractions, a book fair, debates, exhibitions, and a wide variety of gastronomic options from French cuisine and countries across the five continents.

But the main political event of the Festival attracted the national political spotlight. Fabien Roussel, secretary general of the French Communist Party (PCF), gave a strong speech, criticizing President Emmanuel Macron, attacking the far right, listing the priority points of the program presented by the Communist Party in the last elections, calling for peace in the world and defending the creation of the Palestinian State.

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Along with several political and social leaders and parliamentarians elected by the PCF, gathered on the Angela Davis Stage, in front of a crowd of thousands of people, Roussel defined Macron as “the Olympic champion of unemployment and inequality” and advocated a major change in the country’s direction. “Against the dictatorship of money, what the communists have to propose is that the French people reinvent their happy days,” urged Russel, who defended a policy of reindustrializing the country, with environmental and social commitment, increasing job creation, “an industry at the service of the nation.”

Left on the rise in France

The French Communist Party is part of the center-left coalition New Popular Front (NFP), which in the last legislative elections held in July achieved a historic victory in the second round, winning 193 seats in parliament, ahead of the centrist coalition Ensemble, led by Macron, and the far-right party National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen, in second and third places respectively.

The final result of these elections represented a major setback for the far right, which had won the first round but ended up defeated by the Broad Front, which brought together the left (NFP) and the center (Ensemble) in a common electoral tactic, isolating Marine Le Pen and her extremist group.

The New Popular Front is a coalition that brings together several progressive parties and forces, such as France Insoumise, led by Jean-Luc Melenchon, the Ecologists, the Socialist Party and the PCF itself, among other smaller groups. The NFP is currently debating the formation of a coalition government that would guarantee it a majority in parliament, since no political force has obtained an absolute majority of the votes.

In one of the many poetic metaphors in his speech, Fabien Roussel set the tone for the role of French communists in this next political cycle: “We will recover the red color of the flag of the French Republic. The red of the French Revolution.”

Invited to comment on her impressions of the Fête du L’Humanité, American activist Angela Davis declared: “This is my third time at the Fête du L’Humanité. And each time I come, I leave a little more revolutionary.”