INFORMATIONS PRATIQUES FÊTE DU CITRON^®

88th Fête du Citron® postponed until 2022

The famous lemon festival of Menton, which was cut short last February and due to take place from 13th to 28th February 2021, will not go ahead as planned, due to the ongoing health crisis.
The Fête du Citron® is a “homegrown” event organised in its entirety by Menton Town Council. Every year, the festival attracts 240,000 visitors from France and abroad, in just a fortnight of celebrations.

From the citrus-fruit structures reaching heights of several metres, down to the tiniest detail in the town’s flowerbeds, the entire council staff plays a part in the Fête du Citron® preparations. This very specific know-how is part of the town’s intangible cultural heritage and is envied across the world.

Besides requiring substantial Council funding, which in normal times is offset by the festival’s takings, the arrangements have to begin a long time ahead of the event, if only for the supply of citrus fruit.  
This is why the decision as to whether or not to maintain the Fête du Citron® has to be taken today. Considering the health situation as it currently stands, the lack of proposals from tour operators which normally represent 25% of visitors, and the cancellation of the Nice Carnival which has just been announced, we are hardly in a position today to envisage hosting the Fête du Citron® in 2021.

Despite this postponement, Menton Town Council promises to get straight to work on ensuring the 2022 festival and parades are as vibrant, colourful and citrussy as ever, because they are what make the Fête du Citron® so unique