Flower parade and carnival on the French Riviera – Var

Lavandou flower parade March 19, 2023 - Corso Bormes February 19, 2023 - Parade of lights Cavalaire 11+12 February 2023 - Corso La Londe 12 March 2023 - Mimosa Carnival Sainte-Maxime February 04, 2023 - Nice Carnival 10-26 February 2023 - Menton, 89° Lemon Festival 11-26 February 2023 - La Napoule mimosa festival 14-23 February 2023

Bormes-les-Mimosas - February 19. 2023

Flower parade Lavandou - March 19, 2023

The Lavandou Flower parade is a dozen floats adorned with fresh flowers alongside majorettes, musicians, brass bands and troubadours that parade from 2 p.m. on the Lavandou seafront and ends with a magnificent battle of flowers on the theme "la mer qu'on voit danser".

Nice Carnival. "Roi des Trésors du Monde" - 10-26 February 2023

La Londe-les-Maures Carnival - March 12, 2023

Carnival : history and tradition

The flower carnival originates from Egypte and Greece. These countries coming from paganism used to celebrate respectively the Apis bull and the Bacchus bull, they were being immolated while people danced and were screaming of joy. Before that, a human victim replaced the bull. From 1420 the carnival consisted of a bull adorned of feather and dazzling objects and clothes, and a child, king of the butchers that was perched on its back. This practice was abolishes in 1790 and restored in 1805. After that, the king of the butchers was replaced by a float full of young girls wearing mythologycal ceremonials of Love (hence the Queen's float). Then the Corso got its inspiration from Italy with floats decorated by leaves and branches, pulled on the main street by participants allowed to make fun of the local key figures. From 1950 the corsos in the South became a tourist show with majorettes, bands, flower battles, paying stand, tractors, amusement rides... losing all their villager and religious roots....