November 13: Ten Years After the Attacks in Saint-Denis and Paris, A Nation's Tribute

On November 13, 2025, Emmanuel Macron will visit the sites of the November 13 attacks in Saint-Denis and Paris, culminating with the inauguration of a memorial garden in the heart of the capital, as part of a day of commemorations marking ten years since a night of horror.

On Friday, November 13, 2015, France was struck by the deadliest jihadist attacks in its history, coordinated by the Islamic State (IS) group, targeting a football match, a rock concert, and various bars and restaurants.

The national tribute to the 132 victims, their families, and the survivors of these attacks, which profoundly impacted the nation, will conclude at the November 13, 2015 garden with a ceremony led by Thierry Reboul, who is also involved in preparations for the 2024 Olympics.

The ceremony will be broadcast live on television and projected on a big screen at Place de la République in Paris, where a makeshift memorial had formed ten years ago, with traumatized Parisians laying flowers, candles, and notes.

Since Saturday, the base of the Marianne statue has once again been surrounded by small tributes. A "Race for Freedom" passes by each scarred site, with murals and the Eiffel Tower illuminated in blue, white, and red; tributes have already begun.

• Detailed Memories -

For many, it is impossible to forget that terrible evening of November 13, 2015, when IS commandos murdered 130 people and injured hundreds more. Since then, two survivors from the Bataclan have taken their own lives.

According to an Ifop poll for the Jean Jaurès Foundation, 60% of Parisians remember "precisely" what they were doing that night.

Survivors and relatives of victims often dread these tributes. Stéphane Sarrade lost his son Hugo, 23, who was killed at the Bataclan. He still feels "incapable" of visiting the concert hall and will not participate in the ceremonies.

The official commemorations, attended by President Emmanuel Macron, will take place under heightened security in a context of persistent terrorist threats.

They will begin at 11:30 AM with a tribute to Manuel Dias, the only person killed near the Stade de France. Around 12:30 PM, commemorative plaques will be read in front of Le Carillon and Petit Cambodge bars in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, where 13 lives were taken.

At approximately 1:00 PM, a minute of silence will be observed in memory of the five victims of La Bonne Bière in the 11th arrondissement, followed by tributes at 1:30 PM in front of the former Comptoir Voltaire.

Around 1:50 PM, wreaths will be laid at La Belle Équipe, where 21 lives were lost, and at 2:30 PM in front of the Bataclan, where 90 people were killed.

Starting at 6:00 PM, the central theme of the memorial garden ceremony will be music, "the victims' passion," as noted by Thierry Reboul, featuring a requiem by composer Victor Le Masne, performed in front of 1,500 guests.

• "An Act of Resistance" -

This garden, a memorial space near City Hall, consists of large steles and granite blocks, reflecting the geography of the various targeted locations.

"We have stood strong for ten years; we will stand strong on Thursday. This ceremony will also be an act of resistance," stated Philippe Duperron, president of the "13onze15" association.

The "Life for Paris" association hopes for "a grand ceremony of national unity": "It will be the most beautiful way to tell the terrorists that they have not won and that Paris will always remain Paris," insisted its president, Arthur Dénouveaux, during a ceremony on Wednesday evening attended by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.

"Life for Paris" will be dissolved after the inauguration of this memorial site to avoid becoming trapped in victimhood, according to Mr. Dénouveaux.

The question of the memory of November 13 will also be central to the Memorial Museum of Terrorism (MMT), set to open in late 2029 or early 2030 in Paris.

"Why did these terrorists attack us?" asked François Hollande, ten years later, to AFP. "Because we represent freedom, communal living, and pluralism," said the former president, who served from 2012 to 2017 during a time of increased attacks.

More than three years after the trial of these jihadist attacks, during which Salah Abdeslam was sentenced to life imprisonment, the only surviving member of the commandos has expressed a desire, according to his lawyer, to engage in restorative justice. "Several victims of the November 13 attacks" are willing to participate in this dialogue process, assured Arthur Dénouveaux.

© Agence France-Presse