The Lemon Festival (Fête de citron)

The yellow-orange citrus sculptures amaze with elaborate details and the contrast with the blue sky is breathtaking; every Sunday there is also a joyful parade on the promenade

According to the legend, Eve took a yellow fruit from paradise and when she discovered the magic Garavan bay on the French Riviera, she planted a seed in it. And so Menton was born, a small town near Monaco. It grew from a pip, to become the prime lemon-growing region in Europe.

In February, therefore, they celebrate the Lemon Festival and this event draws more than two hundred thousand visitors each year. This was exactly its purpose when, in 1895, local hoteliers asked the mayor to figure out how to attract tourists in winter. He got a great idea to use their forte - citruses - and create the unique statues. For sure he did not know that thanks to his idea Menton would become famous all around the world.

The first thing you notice in town is an unusual street adornment - they are lined with trees full of bright orange ,,balls" - mandarins (no need to taste them, they are acidic).

The dazzling display Fruit Corso is located in the Jardin Bioves gardens, where dozens of artists have built huge sculptures of lemons and oranges. It took them several days. Each piece must be well tied to the wire-framed structure to last for three weeks. Not all of them will; but the fresh ones will immediately replace those mouldy and rotten.

The theme is different every year; it can be world sights, books, film, music... You can admire nesting dolls, ships, cars, musical instruments, smiling octopus, cool turtle with diving goggles, huge whale and even bigger Kraken. There are also sound effects - when the sea monster howled I had goosebumps. The mascot is always John Lemon, here sailing in a boat, there hidden in the bushes.

The yellow-orange citrus sculptures amaze with elaborate details and the contrast with the blue sky is breathtaking..Nothing will be thrown away at the end; 150 tonnes of fruit will be used to make marmalade or jelly.

But there are plenty of other events related to the festival - the exhibition of orchids and work of local artists - ceramics, jewellery, embroidery, but especially everything for which lemons, oranges, kumquats, grapefruits, mandarins and clementines can be used. In addition to cakes, sweets, honey, lollies and syrups, it is, for example, mandarin aperitif, lemon vinegar and liqueur, and Aiga nafra or Bitter orange water, used as a tea, for baking and perfumery.

You can buy there small citrus trees and even strange things like ,,lemon - caviar" (also called Finger lime) coming from Australia. Its pulp consists of small vesicles that burst in the mouth. It can be added to sweet and savoury meals, green berries are especially showy on desserts and ice creams.

Along the Menton’s seaside, on the Promenade du Soleil a colourful parade takes place every Sunday, day and night. Musicians, artists, stilt-walkers and majorettes from all over the world accompany the lemon-themed allegorical floats and deliver a spectacular performance.

The streets are filled with music, the dancers on the carriages dance tirelessly. The bubble wand sellers blow out thousands of bubbles in all the colours of the rainbow and the kids run around and spray everybody with silly strings...

In the end, I always visit the patisserie (cake shop) opposite the entrance to the Bioves Gardens. First, I check all the desserts decorated with flowers but then I will again end up unmistakably with the same. Small tarts filled with a dense lemon or orange cream which always spills out on my coat... And you know what? It doesn’t matter!

See also:
Nice Carnival
The Mimosa Festival, Menton
The Violet Festival, Tourrettes sur Loup

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