If you are looking for a respite from the snow and sub zero temperatures of winter why don’t you make your way to the sunny city of Nice located on the French Riviera? Every year for two weeks in February, this coastal Mediterranean city hosts a grand spectacle known as the Nice Carnival. During this time the entire city transforms into party central with a wide range of festivities that are held all throughout the fortnight from carnival parades and flower processions to elaborate soirées and concerts all of which terminate on the day of Mardi Gras with a scintillating fireworks display.
When is the Nice Carnival?
This year this elaborate celebration will be held from Friday the 13th of February until Sunday the 1st of March. This grand party on the French Riviera has been known to attract more than a million people every year and it is always held in February when the weather in Nice is pleasant and warm. The date of the Carnival however changes every year as the date is linked to the date of Easter and it varies from year to year between February 3 and March 9.
Origins of the Carnival
The origins of the Nice Carnival can be traced back to 1294 when the Count of Provence, Charles Anjou celebrated the first carnival in Nice. The word Carnival itself has evolved from the term carne levare which ‘means away with meat’. During the Middle Ages, the people of Nice considered the period of Carnival as the period when they could indulge in rich, good food and much merriment before the advent of the Catholic period of austerity,Lent which typically precedes Easter. In fact the Nice Carnival has been influenced greatly by both Italian and Catholic cultures. Since France is largely a Catholic country and Nice is geographically located close to Italy where carnivals are an inherent part of culture and tradition. The masks and masked balls which also feature prominently in the Nice Carnival are believed to have come from this Italian influence The days of carnival are actually regarded as a time when rules are relaxed during which you can revel in mocking everyone and everything as your identity is protected by the mask that you wear.
Theme
Each year the carnival has a theme and in 2009, as the Nice Carnival celebrates its 125th anniversary, the theme of the carnival is to be the ‘The King of Masquerades’ (Roi des Mascarades). This year the theme of the Carnival evokes concealment and camouflage in every sense as it requires you to wear a mask and disguise yourself in order to completely change your appearance and take part in the various festivities of this grand deception.
Main Events
For many years before the French revolution, the carnival featured a number of masked balls and dances which were held for the French aristocracy but since 1873, the carnival has had a “committee for the parties,” which has been entrusted with the task of making the event more fabulous and spectacular than the previous years. The fifteen days of Carinval or ‘Carnaval’ as it is popularly known are marked with much gaiety and entertainment and there are a number of main events which draw the largest crowds and cheers. These events are the Carnival parades and the Flower processions which take place many times during the two weeks of the Nice Carnival.
The Carnival Parades
The Carnival King makes his appearance typically on the first Friday evening of the carnival in an extravagant carnival parade which is usually made up of twenty floats that are elaborated decorated with the Carnival’s theme. The parade also includes 180 big heads, thirty of which are fashioned out of papier-mâché and include caricatures of celebrities, politicians, sports people and other well known folk. Marching bands, theater groups and musicians all actively participate in the Carnival parades. The parades take place both during daytime and the evenings. In fact the evening parades are spectacularly illuminated and transformed into a Parade of Lights. This year all carnival parades will roll out on the new place Massena and around the garden Albert 1st. On the last day of the Carnival which is the day of Mardi Gras , the King of the Carnival marches alone in the company of school children before he is set alight on the beach or on the strand with a grand fireworks display.
The Flower Parades
In 1876, the first Flower Parade called the Bataille de Fleurs rolled out on the seafront along the Promenade des Anglais. Soon this simple exchange of flowers grew into a magnificent parade which today showcases nature’s bounty on the French Riviera. The parade today features a plethora of flowers like carnations, daisies, gerberas, gladioli, mimosa, roses, all of which are grown on the French Riviera. These flowers are displayed on twenty flower covered floats which roll along the Promenade des Anglais between the Théâtre de Verdure and the Hotel Negresco. Costumed men and women throw who ride on these floats throw nearly100,000 flowers to the cheering and adoring crowds who gather to witness this parade.
Entrance to the parades is usually free however if you want more information about the timings and the seating arrangements for the parades do visit the official website of the Nice Carnival. Apart from these parades, there are several other festivities associated with the Carnival including a huge Ferris wheel which is set up in the center of the city for the duration of the event.
If you need a hotel for your stay during the Nice carnival do consider the attractive rates being offered several hotels in Nice for this grand spectacle like the Citadines Promenade Apart Hotel which is actually located on the Promenade des Anglais itself and the Gounod Hotel and the Boreal Hotel, both of which are also conveniently located in the city center.
If you liked this post subscribe to our feed to get regular updates.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 4th, 2009 at 12:01 am and is filed under Europe, Festival. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
February 25th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
The flower parade is not free- it costs 10-20 euros, depending on if you sit or stand. And it does not end on Mardi Gras. The fireworks and float burning is on Sunday night, two days before Mardi Gras.
February 25th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Thank you for pointing out this..the official website of the Nice Carnaval to which I have included a link only recently seems to have updated with prices for the parades.
April 15th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
If you want to see a reader’s feedback
, I rate this article for four from five. Decent info, but I have to go to that damn google to find the missed parts. Thank you, anyway!
May 13th, 2009 at 6:30 am
The Citadines Promenade Apart Hotel is actually a great place to stay. It has friendly room service. However, I wouldn’t recommend Boreal Hotel. I schedule a reservation there and lost it. I went through a whole lot of trouble trying to get a room. Also it was a pain to find parking.