THE LEMON : SYMBOL OF MENTON'S IDENTITY

For the Town Hall of Menton, the lemon has become
the most evident and strongest symbol of the town”.
The Fête du Citron®, deeply rooted in the local tradition,
has been able to evolve with time.

The Lemon as an Emblem >>>

For the Town Hall: “The Lemon has become the symbol of the town of Menton. We have chosen it as town emblem: it’s henceforth in the heart of the geographic map of all our documents. Furthermore it goes on very well with the motto associated to our logo, “Menton: my town is a garden”.

The Fête du Citron®: the arrival of capitals >>>

The Town Hall measures the importance of the Lemon Festival according to the impact it has on the economy of the town but also on the basis of distinguished trade mark: “Thanks to this event which involves all the media, the name of Menton is well known in the whole world. It’s associated in a nice way to the idea of festival, but also to a local product, whose symbol is in the air. The lemon evokes at the same time a colour, gustative feelings, the soil and ecology notion, the perfume of the Mediterranean gardens … As regards the economic value, lemons means money to Menton. We don’t have to forget that this manifestation has to its credit the fact that it is auto financed: for a global cost of more or less 8 million francs, it usually has a surplus of over 1 million francs. Furthermore, many are the profits obtained by the local tourism agents: hotels, restaurants, tradesmen…”

A qualitative jump forward >>>

The Town Hall is very happy to see that this popular event evolves with time: “The collaboration with animation professionals such as Disneyland Paris helped the Fête du Citron® to make a qualitative jump forward. The municipal teams beat themselves in order to create more and more elaborated and elegant subjects. Some of our associates showed a real artistic talent. So much so, that today their know-how concerns various partners: some projects are studied together with the Disney World of Orlando in Florida, with Tunisia… The Fête du Citron® is a source of an innovating technological spreading and transfer!” It is a justified label.

The achievement of a label for the Lemon of Menton is one of its main aims: “The Municipal Team makes many efforts to arrange the new burst of the Citrus fruits in the Menton area. Thanks to the Crédit Agricole, we have subsidized the buying of plants for the local citrus tree farmers. The culture of the lemon will be an intelligent way to re-build the landscape according to the spirit of the new development laws, such as the Mountain and Littoral laws.”

A tourist argument >>>

The lemon is an excellent tourist argument for Menton within the framework of a tourist renovation, turning towards the concept of “nature and culture”. Because it can be related to several different themes: like the agricultural and landscape ones, thanks to the plantation of lemon trees; the botanic theme, thanks to the collection inside the Carnolès Palace; and the gastronomic theme, developing products made of lemon, recipes, drinks …

(source : dossier de presse de l'Office du Tourisme de Menton)