A carnival to animate the
town
In 1895, a few hotel owners proposed the Local Council to create
a carnival parade in order to animate the town in winter. Since
1896 the Carnival of Menton seduces its inhabitants and its rich
winter tourists. At the time, it was very fashionable to spend
winter in a region like Côte d’Azur, where the climate
was clement and nice. Kings, princes and artists frequently visited
the palaces of Menton and built here their beautiful villas. The
1882 carnival stays in the memory of the town: Queen Victoria
came to see the festival, which ended with a wonderful firework
in the Garabvan bay. The carnival of Menton then became as famous
as the one in Nice: parades of big heads, throwing of confetti,
flower battles … And on Shrove Tuesday His Majesty the Carnival
was burnt … It was a traditional Carnival, a popular town
“fête”, with banquets and excesses of any kind,
the ones people indulge into before Lent.
The “Moucouleti” tradition
During the evening of the second parade – called “corso”
-, people from Menton give themselves to the traditional entertainment
of the “Moucouleti” or “Moccoletti”,
small candles they hold in their hands. The game consists in
keeping your flame on and blowing off the one of your neighbour!
It’s a pretext game for love meetings, just like in the
tale “Short Story of the carnivals of Menton” by
Pierre Masséna: “In this game the young man, using
all of his skills, has to try and blow off the candle of the
young girl, who has her candle above her head with the calumet
lighted. When the young man succeed he can light the darkened
wick again and have a thanks kiss.”
The lemon enters the dance
In 1929, Menton is still the main lemon producer of the continent.
The owner of a hotel had the idea of organising a flower and
citrus fruits exhibition in the gardens of the Hotel Riviera.
It had such a huge success that the following year the festival
was held in the streets: parade floats with lemon and orange
trees showing off together with the charming Menton girls. The
Municipality, which hoped to develop the tourist trade, tried
to give the Carnival a typical local aspect: the Fête
du Citron® was born in 1934. Two years later, the first
citrus fruit and flower exhibition was opened in the Biovès
gardens. François Ferrié was in charge of conceiving
the orange and lemon look of the parade floats and the motives
of the gardens. It was a success confirmed in the following
years.
Further readings :
M’en avisou… Menton during the Belle Epoque by Charles
Martini de Châteauneuf
Menton and the Lemon Festival by Frank Ricordel. Serre Ed./L’Ancre
Solaire.
(source : dossier de presse de l'Office
du Tourisme de Menton)
