The Nice Carnival (french: Carnaval de Nice) is one of the world's major carnival events, alongside the

Brazilian Carnival The Carnival of Brazil ( pt, Carnaval do Brasil, ) is an annual Brazilian festival held the Friday afternoon before Ash Wednesday at noon, which marks the beginning of Lent, the forty-day period before Easter. During Lent, Roman Catholics and s ...

, Venetian Carnival, and

Mardi Gras in New Orleans The holiday of Mardi Gras is celebrated in all of Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans. Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday (the start of lent in the Western C ...

. It is held annually in February and sometimes early March (depending on the movable date of Carnival in the Christian calendar) in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

on the French Riviera.

History

The earliest records establish the carnival's existence in 1294, when the

Count of Provence The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the frontier nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. In this position, influenced and affected by ...

, Charles Anjou, wrote that he had passed "the joyous days of carnival." This may make the Nice Carnival the original carnival celebration. In 1873, a committee was created for the Carnival, headed by local artist , with later contributions from his son Gustav-Adolf Mossa. The Carnival was reinvented into a parade, adding masquerades, satirical floats, and competitions. Today, the two-week event attracts over a million visitors to Nice every year. Each year, a special theme is chosen, and artists create 18 floats and other figurines in traditional

papier-mâché upright=1.3, Mardi Gras papier-mâché masks, Haiti upright=1.3, Papier-mâché Catrinas, traditional figures for day of the dead celebrations in Mexico Papier-mâché (, ; , literally "chewed paper") is a composite material consisting of p ...

for the colorful parade. The parades take place day and night, while on the

Promenade des Anglais The ''Promenade des Anglais'' (; Niçard: ''Camin dei Anglés''; meaning "English Walkway") is a wikt:en:promenade, promenade along the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Nice, France. It extends from the Nice Côte d'Azur Airport, airp ...

, "flower battles" occur. In 2017, the memorial to the

2016 Nice truck attack On the evening of 14 July 2016, a 19-tonne cargo truck was deliberately driven into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, resulting in the deaths of 86 people and the injury of 458 others. The dri ...

was dismantled in preparation for the carnival. Additionally, the route was moved from the

to the Promenade du Paillon.

Gallery

Bataille de fleurs. 2020-02-22 15-00-53.jpg, Nice Carnival 2020 Roi du Carnaval de Nice 2019.jpg, Nice Carnival 2019 Le carnaval de Nice en mars 2009 - 4.JPG, Nice Carnival 2009 Carnaval nice roi 2007.jpg, Nice Carnival 2007 Carnaval 1916.jpg, Nice Carnival 1916 Vie chère - Nice - Paris - Châlon-sur-Saône.jpg, Nice Carnival 1913 Âne à la tiare et au cadre vide de la Joconde au Carnaval de Nice 1912.jpg, Nice Carnival 1912 Carnival fun has a strong attraction for people of Latin blood in America as well as in Europe LOC 3993142689.jpg, Nice Carnival 1905 1902 Carnaval Nice.jpg, Nice Carnival 1902 Carnival, Nice LCCN2014712374.jpg, Nice Carnival 1900

References

External links

* Culture of Nice Tourist attractions in Nice Festivals in France

Festivals established in 1294 Winter events in France {{festival-stub