Fête du Citron

The Fête du Citron (Occitan: Festival de Limòn) is a carnival event organised by the tourist office of the city of Menton, France, and held every year at the end of winter. It is also sometimes called Carnaval de Menton (Carnival of Menton).

Lemon Festival Fête du Citron
84th Fête du Citron, 2017
Status	Active
Genre	Festivals
Date(s)	mid-February
Frequency	Annual
Venue	Menton
Country	France
Inaugurated	1875
Website	fete-du-citron.com

The festival celebrates the annual production of specialty lemons and other citrus fruit in Menton. All the floats and sculptures present at the carnival are created from lemons and oranges.

The celebration takes place every year in mid-February.^[1] It has been recognised by the Ministry of Culture of France and entered in the inventory of intangible cultural heritage in 2019.^[2]

History

In 1875, hoteliers proposed to the municipality to create a carnival parade to enliven the city in winter. As early as 1876, the event attracted locals and wealthy winter visitors alike. At the time, it was fashionable for the wealthy to come and spend the winter months in the mild climate of the French Riviera. Kings, princes, and artists flocked to palaces in the city or had villas built there. The 1882 edition of the carnival was notably attended by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and it culminated with a fireworks display over Garavan Bay. The Carnival of Menton bears some similarities to its cousin from neighbouring Nice: a parade of large heads, confetti streams, flower battles, Mardi Gras celebration, and finally, the burning in effigy of the "Majesty of the Carnival". The feasts which surround the celebration mark the period before Lent.

Lemon Festival

Dragon float at the 86th Fête du Citron, 2019

Train float at the 80th Fête du Citron, 2013

Whale float at the 81st Fête du Citron, 2014

In 1928, Menton was the main producer of lemons on the European continent. A hotelier had the idea of organizing a private exhibition of flowers and citrus fruits in the gardens of the Riviera Hotel. The event's success was such that the following year, the municipality took up the idea on its own. The name "Fête du Citron" was born in 1934. The Lemon Festival combines traditional carnival events with a celebration of Menton's reputation as Europe's lemon capital. Today, Menton is not known for the quantity of lemons it produces but rather their quality, as they are of a specialty kind sought after by chefs from across the region.^[3] The celebration features elaborate themed floats whose structures are covered in citrus fruit, primarily lemons and oranges, a large portion of which is imported from Spain every year.^[4] At the end of the event, the fruits are sold at low prices.^[5] Each year, a different theme is chosen for the festival.

The Fête du Citron is the second largest public winter event on the French Riviera after the Nice Carnival.

The celebration did not take place during the war years between 1940 and 1946, in 1991 due to the Gulf War, and in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Previous themes

2024	90th	From Olympia to Menton	17 Feb to 3 Mar
2023	89th	Rock and opera	11 to 26 Feb[6]
2022	88th	Operas and theater	12 to 27 Feb
2020	87th	World festivals	15 Feb to 3 Mar
2019	86th	Fantastic worlds	16 Feb to 3 Mar
2018	85th	Bollywood	17 Feb to 4 Mar
2017	84th	Broadway	11 Feb to 1 Mar
2016	83rd	Cinecittà[7]	13 Feb to 2 Mar
2015	82nd	The tribulations of a lemon in China	14 Feb to 4 Mar
2014	81st	20,000 Leagues Under the Sea	15 Feb to 5 Mar
2013	80th	Around the World in 80 Days	16 Feb to 6 Mar
2012	79th	Regions of France	17 Feb to 7 Mar
2011	78th	The Great civilizations[8]	18 Feb to 9 Mar
2010	77th	Menton creates cinema	12 Feb to 3 Mar
2009	76th	Music of the world	13 Feb to 4 Mar
2008	75th	Islands of the world	16 Feb to 5 Mar
2007	74th	Menton invites carnivals of the world - guest of honour: India	17 Feb to 7 Mar
2006	73rd	Menton invites carnivals of the world - guest of honour: Brazil
2005	72nd	Long live Spain
2004	71st	Walt Disney Studio Park
2003	70th	Alice in Wonderland
2002	69th	Pinocchio	31 Jan to 17 Feb
2001	68th	Tales of Mother Goose	8 to 27 Feb
2000	67th	La Fontaine's Fables	11 to 27 Feb
1999	66th	Lucky Luke in Menton
1998	65th	Tintin in the land of lemons
1997	64th	Menton-Monaco "A story of princes"
1996	63rd	Asterix in the land of lemons
1995	62nd	Disneyland in the land of lemons
1994	61st	Marine fairies
1993	60th	Celebrating Europe
1992	59th	The gallant holidays
1991	58th	The year of Mozart
1990	57th	Myths and legends of the Mediterranean
1989	56th	If I knew the history of France
1988	55th	Wonders of the world
1987	54th	Love and passion
1986	53rd	Stories and legends
1985	52nd	Cinema
1984	51st	Lemons without borders
1983	50th	The lemon-gold wedding
1982	49th	Jules Verne
1981	48th	Provence
1980	47th	No more waste
1979	46th	Circus
1978	45th	A walk through the history of Menton
1977	44th	Lemon in all sauces
1976	43rd	Lemon makes the fair
1975	42nd	The Golden Fruit Congress has fun
1974	41st	Lemon and Chinese
1973	40th	Trip to the Moon
1972	39th	What a program
1971	38th	The lemon and the sea
1970	37th	Music
1969	36th	The lemon king of the journey
1968	35th	The lucky charm
1967	34th	Signs of the zodiac
1966	33rd	The 4 seasons
1965	32nd	Orange and gold waterfalls
1964	31st	The yé-yé orchestras
1963	30th	The lemon through the ages
1962	29th	Love
1961	28th	Orange and gold symphony
1960	27th	The small world of our countryside
1959	26th	Flowers