Over the years, some holidays have become essential events in the French calendar. This is particularly true of April Fool's Day, celebrated every April 1st. On this day, the grown-ups fall back into childhood and the youngest ones have a great time: hanging fishes on the back of others or being tempted by one or several hoaxes. Joke day, April 1st is now a real custom in France, and even elsewhere. But where does this tradition come from? Why do pranks on April 1st and why is fish associated with this holiday? We reveal the history and origins of April Fools' Day.
As for many other holidays, the origins related to April 1st are multiple. The one that comes up most often takes us back in time to the year 1564, when King Charles IX decided to shift the New Year to January 1st, while it was celebrated until then on April 1st. Objective of this change of date? To be based on the Gregorian calendar. A change that some French people have ignored and that others have had difficulty memorizing. Continuing to offer gifts to their loved ones on the wrong date, some would then have taken the habit of gently mocking them by sending them for example false gifts or playing tricks on that day.
But why is the fish associated with this April 1st holiday? Here again, the answers differ, as explained by the grammarian Pierre-Marie Quitard in his Dictionary of proverbs and proverbial expressions of the French language. First of all, there is the story according to which the Prince of Lorraine, then a prisoner in the castle of Nancy, would have saved himself by swimming across the Meurthe river... on a famous April 1st. Another explanation, more religious, refers to the end of Lent, the month of April. During this period of fasting, Christians were not supposed to eat meat. From then on, fish was the most popular food at the table. Finally, there is also the reference to the zodiacal calendar; the month of April corresponds to the sign of Pisces.
Every year, all over the world, little and big children indulge in the passion of the day: making jokes, which sometimes remain in the annals. Some of you may remember this report broadcasted in 1957 by the BBC where we discovered the culture of the spaghetti tree!
And then, there are those memorable announcements, like in 1986 when the TV news announced the moving of the Eiffel Tower to Marne-la-Vallée, in 2009 when the SNCF used Homer Simpson's voice in the stations, or in 2016 when the RATP renamed thirteen stations of the Paris metro.
