THE Alliance Française has driven its Canberra CEO to drink. The local arm of the worldwide organisation representing French culture is producing its own red wine for the first time this year.  

Nancy Ford-Waites says it’s inspired by a French drop known as “Beaujolais nouveau”. 

In France, the wine is harvested from a special type of grape and a festival, on the third Thursday of November, celebrates the harvest and gives people the first taste of their work.

In Canberra, she says, the Alliance will celebrate on the third Saturday of May as that date will represent the end of the harvest season here.

Anyone can get their own bottle of the wine, harvested from the Rosnay Vineyard in Canowindra, for $30. 

Canberrans can also get tickets to the celebration festival itself to be held on May 22.

Nancy, a Francophile for as long as she can remember and CEO of the Alliance’s ACT committee, says the Alliance Française is about celebrating the French “art of living” or “art de vivre”.

“Every year we have around 800 students come through the Alliance learning to speak French,” says Nancy.

“It’s the official language of 27 countries, but it’s an important language in around 80, and the Alliance celebrates all of these countries that make up the worldwide French presence.”

It originated in 1883 with author Jules Verne; one of the first vaccine biologists, Louis Pasteur and the developer of the Suez Canal, Ferdinand de Lesseps.

All three were pioneers of the now worldwide organisation that stretches throughout 138 countries with 850 committees, but its arrival in Canberra wasn’t until the middle of World War II.

“It started here with a handful of people having the first AGM in a living room in Ainslie,” says Nancy.

“They’d only meet once a month and everything was always in French. They’d only start teaching the language in the ‘50s.”

The early Alliance would bounce between different buildings in Canberra to hold its passionate gatherings, but by the ‘70s an enterprising attaché from the French embassy named Albert Salon would realise a dream to see an official French-English bilingual school established in the capital.

“Salon was able to convince the ACT government to grant land the building could be constructed on and then went on to convince the French government to fund the construction,” says Nancy.

“We still use that building today.”

At 78 years, the Alliance is the oldest multicultural association in the ACT. 

“We want to continue to translate the traditions of France into an Australian environment through food and drink, art, history, music and much more,” says Nancy.

The event which sees the Alliance most in the spotlight is the annual, Australia-wide French Film Festival, the biggest in the world outside of France.

“In 2021, even with cinemas still at 75 per cent capacity due to covid restrictions, we still sold 16,301 tickets,” says Nancy.

“People from all over Australia came to see the 36 new films and the one French classic that’s a tradition at the festival.”

The Alliance also always commemorates France’s national day on July 14, Bastille Day.

Of course, at all of these events speaking to one another in French is encouraged, but Nancy says the Alliance welcomes anybody regardless of skill to come and learn.

“I think there’s a common perception that as an adult it’s too late to learn another language, but that’s not the case,” she says.

“I had only done a little at school, but when I was pregnant with my son 10 years ago I really committed to it.”

“Now I’m fluent enough to work in French, but I still get weekly lessons because you can always improve,” she says. 

Nancy estimates the French presence in Canberra to be around 10,000 people and as CEO since August, her goal is to facilitate more interaction between native French speakers and Australians. 

“The more exposure we have to other ways of thinking and other cultures, the more we can encounter aspects of life that are fulfilling for us,” says Nancy.

“Sharing a meal together, having a conversation, taking in a piece of art. I think that’s what’s so beautiful about the French culture, living more in the moment.”

More information at afcanberra.com.au