As Coginchaug students currently learn about the French culture through French Week, a popular and risk-taking group named “We Are the Oracle” (WATO) in Paris, France, is taking initiative in shaping the modern French culture in their own unique ways.
WATO was started by former business student Foulques Jubert who “spent a year attending 24 festivals in 13 countries to learn how to bring similar spectacles to Paris,” as stated by the NY Times.
WATO is uprising in recent years due to their reputation of throwing secretive and exclusive parties throughout Paris. You simply subscribe to receive newsletters from the group, and you find out when the upcoming parties are, not knowing where the event will be held until the day before the event. Some of the bashes successfully thrown by WATO, having started five years ago, include “The Urban Tribe Dinner” on the Petite Ceinture which is an abandoned railroad, “The Last Dinner of the Bridge Keepers” beneath the Pont Alexandre III, and “Rooftop Project” which was located on the roof of an old hospital, very close to the Eiffel Tower. The club was not always so experienced though, as at the start of theses parties WATO attempted to hold a dinner below the Place d’Italie when the police were searching for the people attending.
These in-style parties held by WATO are quite the hit because when you attend them “you’re diving into another world or another universe,” shared Vincent de la Morandière who has gone to several of these parties.
The French are stereotypically known for sipping wine, fine dining, and sticking to the rules of the cities they live in. Are these traditions changed forever now with this hip and risky group called WATO and its followers? French culture seems to be taking a dive into new practices with the intentions of having a fun time, and maybe even living on the edge. According to the NY Times, WATO is creating such memorable nights that even citizens of the US are travelling to Paris just to attend these once in a lifetime events.
This phenomenon even recently came to our hometown when United Churches of Durham hosted an event called “An Evening in White,” as a fundraiser for the second year where the location of the gathering isn’t announced to guests until the day of. The French culture is making an impression on cultures throughout the world.
