Every February, the small French town of Menton on the Côte d’Azur builds monumental sculptures from 145 tonnes of oranges and lemons. The Fête du Citron, running since 1934, draws over 240,000 visitors to a two-week celebration that is part agricultural festival, part carnival, and entirely unlike anything else in Europe. The sculptures themselves—some reaching ten metres high—are the centrepiece, but the festival also includes parades of citrus-covered floats, night-time illuminations, and a craft market where you can taste the real Menton lemon.
Each sculpture starts as a welded-steel armature designed with 3D modelling software months before the festival. Volunteers then attach every lemon and orange using only elastic bands—no adhesive, nails, or pins. The technique lets the structures flex in wind and, just as importantly, allows the fruit to be removed intact after the event and distributed to food banks. Around 300 volunteers work for two weeks in the Biovès Gardens, assembling pieces that can exceed ten metres in height and fifteen metres in length. The fruit itself comes from Spanish and Italian growers; Menton’s own crop, protected by a PGI since 2015, is too small and too prized to cover the floats. Twelve people are employed solely to check the displays each day and replace any deteriorating fruit.
Each fruit is held in place by colour-coded elastic bands—yellow for lemons, orange for oranges. After the festival, the sorted fruit is sold to locals at bargain prices (recently €1.50 for 3 kg), and anything mouldy is composted.
The festival’s Exhibition of Citrus Patterns in the Biovès Gardens is free to enter and open daily from 9 am to 11 pm. At night the gardens become the Jardins de Lumières, with the sculptures lit by spotlights and accompanied by atmospheric music—a quieter, more theatrical experience than the daytime parades.
Menton sits at the easternmost edge of the French Riviera, a few kilometres from the Italian border. Its microclimate is the warmest on the French Mediterranean coast: temperatures rarely fall below 5°C even in January, and annual sunshine exceeds 2,800 hours. The south-facing amphitheatre, protected by the Maritime Alps, allows citrus to flourish where it cannot 20 km west. In the mid-19th century, Menton’s lemon groves produced over 35 million fruit per year, supplying Paris, London, and Saint Petersburg. The town was Europe’s lemon capital.
The Fête du Citron began in 1934 as a modest horticultural exhibition organised by hoteliers to attract winter guests. At that time the Riviera season ran from November to April, not summer. The festival grew slowly, gained carnival elements in the 1950s, and by the 1960s had settled into its present form: two weeks of static citrus sculptures and motorised float parades, each year organised around a new theme. Recent themes have included Jules Verne’s voyages, Bollywood cinema, and the Olympics. In 2019 the festival was added to France’s inventory of intangible cultural heritage.
The Menton lemon itself—granted PGI protection in 2015—is a different fruit from the supermarket variety. It is more oval, less acidic, intensely aromatic, and prized by pastry chefs and perfumers. You will not find it on the floats; the festival fruit is imported. But you can buy real Menton lemons at the craft market that runs alongside the festival, or in local shops. They are worth seeking out.
The Golden Fruit Parade (Corso des Fruits d’Or) is the festival’s flagship event. On Sunday afternoons, floats entirely covered in citrus fruit parade along the Promenade du Soleil, accompanied by dancers, brass bands, and folk groups. The spectacle lasts about an hour and a half, and tens of thousands of spectators line the seafront. Tickets are required: grandstand seats cost €14–30, standing promenade €8–16, with reduced rates for children 6–12 and free entry for under-6s (still requiring a ticket).
The Night Parades (Corsos Nocturnes) take place on Thursday evenings, with the same floats illuminated by theatrical lighting and ending with fireworks over the bay. These are widely considered the more dramatic option. Arrival before 11 am on Sunday parade days and before 6 pm on Thursday parade days is strongly recommended, as traffic and crowds build quickly.
Alongside the parades, the Orchid Festival runs at the Palais de l’Europe (free entry, €1.50 for some sections) and the craft market offers lemon-infused products, limoncello, honey, and jams. The festival also hosts workshops, including a lemon-tart baking session led by a local pastry chef, and a children’s carnival. A full programme is published on the official site before each edition.
The festival typically runs from mid-February to early March. In 2026 it is scheduled for 14 February to 1 March under the theme “Wonders of Life.” Dates shift slightly each year, so check the official ticket page for the current edition. Tickets for parades and the citrus exhibition go on sale around October and sell out quickly—seated grandstand tickets especially.
Menton’s population of 30,000 triples during the festival. Sunday parades are the busiest; arrive before 11 am or expect significant traffic and queues. The citrus exhibition in Biovès Gardens is free and less crowded on weekday mornings.
Menton station is less than 200 metres from the Biovès Gardens and 400 metres from the parade route. Extra TER/ZOU! trains run from Nice and Monaco during the festival. Driving is not recommended on parade days; park at the temporary P1 car park at motorway exit 59 and take the shuttle.
Accommodation in Menton fills months ahead. If nothing is available, Monaco (15 minutes by train) or Nice (30 minutes) are practical alternatives. February on the Riviera is mild but not guaranteed warm: bring layers, a waterproof jacket, and comfortable shoes for standing. Sunglasses and sunscreen are useful for bright afternoons.
What to wear aside, the festival is surprisingly accessible on a budget. The sculpture exhibition and craft market are free, and the Orchid Festival costs only €1.50. A standing ticket for one parade gives you the full experience without the grandstand price.
Menton deserves more than a day trip. Its old town—a steep cascade of pastel facades and Ligurian-influenced architecture—climbs to the Baroque Basilique Saint-Michel-Archange, which offers a panoramic view of the coast. The Musée Jean Cocteau, housed in a contemporary building by Rudy Ricciotti on the waterfront, holds the world’s largest collection of the artist’s work. Cocteau also decorated the Salle des Mariages in the Hôtel de Ville, a pilgrimage site for admirers who considered Menton his spiritual home.
The mild climate has made Menton the Riviera’s botanical capital. Several gardens—Jardin Serre de la Madone, Jardin Val Rahmeh, Jardin du Palais Carnolès—are within walking distance or a short drive. Together they form one of Europe’s finest collections of Mediterranean and subtropical plants, many of which cannot survive further west. If you are building a longer Riviera itinerary, Menton pairs naturally with Monaco and the Italian border towns just beyond.
Sources
Fête du Citron official website. Fête du Citron, 2026.
Exhibition of Citrus Patterns. Fête du Citron, 2026.
Festival programme. Fête du Citron, 2026.
