Menton Lemon Festival Guide
A guide to the Menton Lemon Festival — the giant citrus sculptures, garden displays and parades of the Fête du Citron each February and March.
Only Menton, warmest of the Riviera towns, could stage a festival built from fruit. Each late winter its Fête du Citron fills the Jardins Biovès with enormous sculptures made from tons of lemons and oranges, themed anew every year. Here is a guide to the Menton Lemon Festival.
A festival built from citrus
In the Jardins Biovès, teams build vast structures — animals, monuments, whole scenes — entirely from bright lemons and oranges, using well over a hundred tons of fruit around a different theme each year. Running since the 1930s, it is unlike any other festival on the coast.
The sight of these golden sculptures against Menton's palms and pastel facades is genuinely extraordinary.
- Giant sculptures built from lemons and oranges
- Staged in the Jardins Biovès
- Over a hundred tons of citrus, themed yearly
- A tradition since the 1930s
Gardens, parades and displays
Beyond the garden sculptures, the festival brings the Corso des Fruits d'Or — golden-fruit parades of floats through the town — and evening garden illuminations that light the displays after dark. Together they run across several weeks.
It is worth timing a visit around a parade or an illuminated evening for the fullest experience.
- Golden-fruit float parades through the town
- Evening garden illuminations
- Sculpture displays throughout
- Programme spread across several weeks
Planning your visit
The Fête du Citron runs from around mid-February to early March. It makes an ideal day trip, easily combined with Menton's Italianate old town and famous gardens, and with the wider quiet pleasures of the Riviera in winter.
Weekends and parade days are busiest, so an early start rewards.
Getting to Menton
Menton sits at the far eastern end of the coast, by the Italian border — around 40 minutes from Nice Airport and half an hour beyond Monaco. Parking is tight on festival days, so a private chauffeur that drops you in the centre and collects you later is by far the easiest approach.
It leaves you free to wander the sculptures, the parades and the old town without a thought for the car.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Menton Lemon Festival?
From around mid-February to early March each year, with sculpture displays, golden-fruit parades and evening illuminations.
What is the Fête du Citron?
Menton's Lemon Festival — enormous sculptures built from tons of lemons and oranges in the Jardins Biovès, themed anew each year.
Is the Menton Lemon Festival worth a day trip?
Yes. It combines easily with Menton's Italianate old town and gardens, making an ideal winter day out on the eastern Riviera.
How do I get to the Menton Lemon Festival?
Menton is around 40 minutes from Nice Airport; with tight festival parking, a chauffeur that drops you in the centre is easiest.
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