Les Olympiades de la Francophonie

To celebrate the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Alliance Française d'Adelaide organised a fun sports day event for French students in year 7, 8 and 9, on Friday 17 May 2024. 

Held at the Unley Oval and Community Hub, 140 students from four Adelaide Schools - Pembroke School, Glenunga International High School, St Ignatius College and Scotch College - were divided into 10 teams, each representing a francophone country. Fuelling up with traditional french snacks of madeleine au beurre and sirop grenadine (berry cordial), the students played four traditional French games like la Balle aux prisonniers (dodgeball), le Béret, la Thèque and le Tir à la corde (tug of war). 

Students also learnt the official Olympic Games dance, dancing all together in a very impressive flash mob on the Unley Oval. Make sure to watch their performance in the video below!

After the games and dance it was time for an Olympic Quiz, with questions about francophone countries (French-speaking countries).

The three winning teams left with goodies: French bonbons (lollies), French board games and the Olympiades de la Francophonie cup! Congratulations Team Senegal (a team of Pembroke students) for making it to 1st place on the podium!

Thank you to all the students who participated with great enthusiasm, to the teachers who accompanied and encouraged them, to Unley High School for lending their gear, and to Sturt Football Club for their sport gear and letting us blast their speakers around the Oval for the students to dance!

Last but not least, thank you to the French government for supporting this event through the Support Fund for the French Associative Network Abroad (STAFE).

To find out more about our upcoming our events and activities for schools, visit our incursions & excursions page.

Some feedbacks from happy students: 

"We are very thankful for everything you organised for us and the opportunity you gave for us to learn more about French and make friends. I enjoyed every sport and the fun dance we had to learn in such a quick time" – Jess

"I would like to thank you for putting on this amazing day for French students around Adelaide, it was a super fun day and the dance was super fun too" – Damon

"The kids truly had an entertaining time and I loved it" – Elsie

"Thank you to all the lovely people who made this event and put their time and effort into making this an exciting memory for us kids to have. We all had an amazing time and hope we can do this again. I have learnt a lot of new things!" – India

"I had an amazing time, the highlight was the Olympic Dance" – William

Paris Olympics Quiz & Apéro

Once the students left, it was Apero & Quiz time! Families were welcomed in the Community Hub with a special French drink: a Lillet cocktail, a French aromatised fortified wine served with tonic, or a Kir Royal, made of crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) and bubbles. Traditional French apéro nibbles were also much enjoyed, especially by the children!  

French expats, bilingual families, and Francophone enthusiasts joined us for an Olympic Quiz. Teams were challenged on their knowledge of the Olympic Games, covering topics from history and pop culture to fun facts, as well as the achievements of France and Australia in Olympic history.

This Olympic Day certainly left us wanting more, and the anticipation is building up for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, 26 July to 11 August, and Paralympic Games, 28 August to 8 September. For now, we invite you to travel to France and its overseas territories by following the Olympic Torch Relay, with the Olympic flame following an epic route never seen before. Enjoy!

Thanks to all the persons and organisations involved in this event: