The Carnaval de Nice

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My most recent articles were about the relatively sedate and tasteful Lemon Festival in Menton, France. I mentioned that the Carnival in Nice was much larger: it’s also a much gaudier and more raucous extravaganza. Here are some photos from the two times I was able to attend. But first some background …

The City:

The administrative capital of the Riviera, Nice is France’s fifth largest city, its busiest passenger port (nearly 200,000 passengers/year), and its second most important airport (over 2.5 million passengers/year). It is blessed with a healthy climate, a five mile (8 km) beach, and over 700 acres (300 ha) of parks and gardens.

Settlements in the area go back thousands of years, but the makings of a city were probably begun by the Greeks or Romans. After living under various regimes, it joined France in the mid-1800s, and large numbers of British and other Europeans began to winter there. Nice is renowned as the flower capital of France and since 1873 has been the site of one of Europe’s most famous pre- Lenten carnivals.

The Carnival:

It goes on for twelve days, attracting more than a million visitors and ending on Mardi Gras Tuesday. Although there are activities galore, most tourists go for the parades, of which there are three types held on alternating days: the daytime Carnival Parade and the Battle of Flowers, and the night-time Parade of Lights. . The “Battle of Flowers” reminds me of California’s Rose Bowl parade, but the ladies on these floats throw flowers to the onlookers, who throw them back. In the more traditional Carnival Parades (which I attended), about twenty enormous floats depicting that year’s chosen theme wound their way past bleachers erected in downtown Place Masséna for the occasion. Each parade also had about four dozen walking “personages” (mostly representing politicians) with huge papier maché heads, dozens of visiting dancers, marching bands, clowns, and others. There is a different theme every year: when I first visited in the 1990s it was (more or less) “The Movies”, and the floats were absolutely spectacular. In 2008 it was “Bats, cats, rats and other legendary creatures”: I didn’t find that nearly as attractive. Nevertheless the floats were always brightly coloured, animated, and unique, and they provided two hours of good entertainment. Here are a few of the highlights from both parades.

If you go, be sure to go by tour bus, and buy your tickets early, in order to get seats in the grandstand.

To enlarge any of the 40 photos below and on the next page, simply click on it.

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