Festival of the Supreme Being

• The Festival of the Supreme Being was established by Maximilien Robespierre.
• The first celebration of the Festival took place in Paris.
• The festival included a grand procession and speeches promoting civic virtue.
• Robespierre delivered a speech emphasizing the importance of the Supreme Being and virtue.
• The event aimed to replace the traditional Christian worship with civic religion.
• The festival was marked by elaborate decorations and symbolic displays.

The Festival of the Supreme Being took place on 8 June 1794 and was a state-sponsored event during the French Revolution. Initiated by Maximilien Robespierre, the celebration aimed to promote the new religion of the Supreme Being, which revered a deity embodying republican virtues without allegiance to traditional Catholicism.

The National Convention decreed the festival, reflecting the government’s efforts to replace organized religion with a form of civic deism. The concept of the Supreme Being came from Enlightenment ideas and sought to forge unity among the citizens by emphasizing moral code and civic responsibility.

Preparation for the event was extensive, involving large numbers of the populace. Major ceremonies were held in Paris, particularly at the Champ de Mars (later renamed the Field of the Federation). Jacques-Louis David, the renowned painter and a staunch supporter of the Revolution, had a prominent role in designing the event. Artistic and symbolic elements such as statues and altars were erected; theatrical performances and musical compositions were also part of the program.

Participants of this festival included the members of the National Convention, the Committee of Public Safety, and other government officials. Robespierre, wearing a sky-blue coat, presided over the main ceremony, delivering speeches that articulated the principles of the Cult of the Supreme Being.

The festivity involved a grand procession beginning at the Tuileries Garden, passing through various symbolically decorated avenues, and concluding at the Champ de Mars. Civic leaders carried branches of oak and other greenery, promoting a connection between nature and republican values.

Critics of the event accused Robespierre of aiming to deify himself and consolidate personal power. The young general Napoleon Bonaparte reportedly found the event absurd. Nonetheless, the Festival of the Supreme Being demonstrated the Revolution's capacity for social engineering and the lengths to which it would go to form a new moral and civic society.

Despite its grandeur, this celebration did not achieve long-lasting success. A month after the festival, Robespierre and his allies faced arrest and execution during the Thermidorian Reaction on 27 July 1794, signaling the decline of radical revolutionary measures and the introduction of the Thermidorian government period.

• The Festival of the Supreme Being was celebrated for the first time on 8 June 1794, as an attempt to promote deism (a belief in a creator who does not intervene in the universe) amidst the radical secularism of the Revolution.
• Maximilien Robespierre, the leading figure behind the event, viewed it as a way to unite the people under a patriotic, moral, and religious banner, believing it would replace the old religious institutions that were deemed obsolete.
• The elaborate ceremony included a grand procession, colorful costumes, and the declaration of a new secular religion, with the Supreme Being representing virtue and reason, rather than traditional deities.
• During the festival, a massive statue of the Supreme Being was revealed, standing nearly 12 meters tall, crafted from papier-mâché, depicting a divine figure that embodied the principles of the Revolution.
• The festival was held at the height of the Reign of Terror; ironically, just over three months later, Robespierre would be arrested and executed, along with many of his supporters, marking the end of this deified vision.
• Although the celebration was grand, it fell on the same day as the Festival of Federation, which commemorated the unity of the French people; this created confusion and limited participation in the Supreme Being's festival.