Nice Carnival 2027 and the Menton Lemon Festival

Nice Carnival is a winter celebration before Lent, drawing hundreds of thousands each year. At its centre is the Carnival King, a giant figure opening the festivities and burnt beside the sea on the final evening beneath fireworks. Every year has a theme, and craftspeople spend the year building floats with giant papier-mâché figures.

• 2026: “Vive la Reine”, Long Live the Queen, more than 420,000 spectators;

• 2027: “Vive l'Amour”, Long Live Love.

Flower battle

The carnival's prettiest event: floats covered entirely in mimosa, carnations, lilies and gerberas, many grown on local farms. Costumed performers throw flowers into the crowd. Leaving without a bouquet is almost impossible.

Parades

Giant caricatures, fairy-tale characters and figures of the year circle Place Masséna to music from bands and groups worldwide. Illuminated evening parades are the most spectacular.

• Grandstands: seated places with good views, costing more.

• Standing areas, promenoir: cheaper, nearer the floats and livelier.
• Tickets: sold in advance on the official website; popular dates, particularly weekends, sell out.
• Children: discounts and free entry for the youngest; check the website.
• Costumes: some shows offer reduced or free entry in carnival costume; rules change yearly.

Menton, beside the Italian border, hosts the Fête du Citron in February. The Biovès Gardens display huge sculptures made from tonnes of lemons and oranges, while citrus-covered floats parade along the seafront. Menton is the Riviera's warmest town, with citrus growing everywhere. The festival takes place in February–early March; check Menton's website for 2027 dates.

The seaside train from Nice takes around thirty minutes, making both festivals easy to combine.

• Weather: mild, often sunny and 12–15 °C by day, cool in the evening. Bring a light jacket.

• Mimosa: flowering in the hills in February; the “Mimosa Route” runs from Bormes-les-Mimosas to Grasse.
• Fewer tourists than summer, except carnival weekends.
• Food: socca at Cours Saleya, seasonal citrus and fish soup.

• Near Place Masséna and the old town: walk everywhere, but noisy on parade evenings.

• Promenade des Anglais: sea and flower-battle views.
• Villefranche or Beaulieu: quieter, ten to fifteen minutes by train.

Book early: Nice fills on carnival weekends.

Documents mention Nice Carnival in the late 13th century, then a popular masked celebration before Lent. Its modern form, with floats, committee and tickets, began in 1873, when the organising committee was founded. A few years later, the first flower battle took place on the Promenade des Anglais: wealthy winter visitors, mainly English and Russian aristocrats, threw bouquets at one another from carriages. The event grew into one of the three best-known carnivals, alongside Rio de Janeiro and Venice.

Carnavaliers create the giants, often handing the craft down through families. Work begins almost as soon as the previous carnival ends:

1. An artist sketches a design around the year's theme.
2. A metal and wooden frame is built.
3. Layers of papier-mâché, newspaper and glue, are applied, dried and sanded.
4. The figure is brightly painted and mounted on a mechanised float: heads turn and arms move.

The grosses têtes, “big heads”, are an art of their own: enormous papier-mâché masks worn on performers' shoulders as they dance between floats.

Evening parades have lights and music; daytime events draw more families. Flower battles last around an hour, with thousands of flowers literally flying above the crowd.

Carnival is a family celebration. A few tips:

• Daytime parades are calmer than evenings.

• Standing by the barriers gets you close, but children may see little through the crowd; grandstands are better for small children.
• Ear protection for little ones, as music is loud.
• Costume: dressed-up children are everywhere, and a mask makes the celebration more fun.
• Confetti and streamers are sold at entrances; foam sprays may be banned, so check the rules.

• mobile or printed tickets;

• warm jacket and scarf for evening;
• a small bag, since large backpacks may cause entry problems;
• cash for drinks and confetti;
• a charged phone and an agreed meeting point in case you get separated.

Carnival season brings ganses, thin strips of fried dough dusted with icing sugar, sold in Nice bakeries only during these weeks. Also try:

• socca at Cours Saleya;

• Menton citrus: lemons, oranges and kumquats;
• sweet Swiss-chard tart, a Nice speciality;
• fish soup and oysters in old-town restaurants;
• Bellet wines from Nice's hills.

Read more in “What to Eat in Nice”.

• Mimosa Festival in Mandelieu-la-Napoule: flower-float parade, usually in February.

• Mimosa Route: 130 km from Bormes-les-Mimosas to Grasse through yellow-flowering hills.
• Menton Lemon Festival: during the same weeks as carnival.

A week gives time for carnival, lemons and mimosa.

Exact prices appear on the official website in autumn; buy early.

• Grandstands offer the best full-float shots.

• In the evening, shoot without flash; figures are illuminated.
• Hold your phone firmly during flower battles: flowers fly straight at spectators.
• Avoid raising selfie sticks above people's heads and blocking those behind.

Parades are not daily, leaving time for:

• Vieux Nice: narrow streets, Baroque churches, olive-oil and sweet shops.

• Castle Hill: walk or take the lift for views over the Baie des Anges and carnival-decorated promenade.
• Matisse and Chagall museums around Cimiez, quiet in winter.
• Nice harbour: colourful houses and fish restaurants.
• Russian Saint Nicholas Cathedral: one of Western Europe's largest Orthodox churches.

Outside town, February is good for Èze, Monaco and Saint-Paul-de-Vence, with fewer visitors and gentle sunshine. Read more in “French Riviera Towns” and “Saint-Paul-de-Vence and Èze”.

Hundreds of thousands attend, so show areas are fenced and bags checked. To enjoy the event:

• keep phone and wallet in an inside pocket, since pickpockets operate in crowds;

• agree a meeting point with children and write your phone number on their arm;
• bring no glass, aerosols or sharp objects, which will be refused;
• wait ten to fifteen minutes after the parade rather than rushing out with everyone.

After evening parades, old-town restaurants stay open late, music plays on squares and costumed visitors gather at harbour bars. The final evening's burning of the King and seaside fireworks are free, visible from the promenade without tickets. Come early for a place by the parapet.

Carnival is a good reason to visit in winter, with lower prices and the start of citrus and mimosa season at markets.

1. Open the official website, nicecarnaval.com; sales begin in autumn.
2. Choose the event: daytime or evening corso, or flower battle.
3. Choose the date: weekdays are quieter and sometimes cheaper.
4. Choose your place: grandstand, tribune, or standing, promenoir.
5. Pay by card and save the e-ticket on your phone.

Buy only through the official website or Nice tourist office: resellers charge more and counterfeit tickets are a risk. Entrance ticket offices also sell on show days, but weekends are often already sold out.

When the floats return to their hangars, early spring arrives. March brings almond and wisteria blossom, old-town terraces and the first asparagus and young artichokes at Cours Saleya. If you dislike crowds, come a week later: similar weather, cheaper accommodation and a town returned to residents. Many of our guests watch one evening parade and spend the other days on coastal excursions and at Bellet and Provence wineries.

1. Not booking weekend tickets ahead.
2. Arriving at parade start: queues and checks mean coming forty-five minutes early is better.
3. Forgetting warm clothes: evening seaside parades are cool.
4. Driving into the centre: roads close; walk or take the tram.
5. Not allowing a day for Menton.

Combine carnival with excursions: a Cours Saleya food walk, Èze and Monaco, Antibes and Saint-Paul-de-Vence. → French Riviera excursions · Nice food walk · French Riviera towns