Fête du Citron 🍋 Complete Guide for 2024

This is a complete guide to Menton’s 2024 Fête du Citron, written by a local insider. Below is all the information you’ll need, including the locations, ticketing, history, and insider information.

Every winter one of France’s most popular events is held in Menton on the French Riviera: the Fête du Citron. It is the second largest winter event on the French Riviera after the famous Carnaval de Nice.

What to Expect at the Fête du Citron

Entire buildings, clock towers, trains, and castles made from lemons? Yes. Each February, this is precisely the stuff that you’ll find in the town of Menton.

The Fête du Citron attracts over 230,000 visitors annually, and it never gets boring as each year the sculptures have a different theme.

The festival first began in 1934 as a way to entertain aristocratic visitors and evolved into a celebration of gigantic proportions. Every year, 400 people design, create and build ten 30-foot-tall sculptures of fruit with 140 tons of lemons and oranges. The result is surreal and singular. Beyond the visual display of vivid orange and yellow sculptures, the fruits tinge the air with the heady smell of citrus.

During Menton’s Fête du Citron, all kinds of events are available. There are the Golden Fruit Parades where giant sculptures roll down the street with musicians, folk groups, and majorettes. Then there are processions of the evenings, and then fireworks across the bay. The Biovès Gardens host the Light Gardens, which displays the artworks in light and sound displays. The Palais de l’Europe offers several exhibitions near the Gardens, including the Festival of the Orchid, in which you can pick up jams inspired by the citrus fruit, jellies, honey, soap, and perfumes.

Local bands play throughout the day, and the Palais de l’Europe is home to the night shows. There are various guided tours of the Palais Carnolès , the most extensive collection of citrus fruit in Europe, from pomace trees to kumquats. There are also several guided tours of the palace, for example, from the jam factory and the citrus grove.

Why Lemons?

There’s a local fable in the French Riviera that when Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, Eve took a lemon with her and buried in the spot that would become Menton. Whether or not you believe the myth, citrus fruit is at the heart of this French seaside town, leaving it awash in golden hues.

Since the 15th century, the town’s residents have grown citrus trees. Menton’s valley benefits from a unique micro-climate that’s a few degrees warmer than the rest of the Côte d’Azur, making it especially good weather for citrus. Although the region is home to 100 different varieties of fruit, from kumquats to grapefruit, Mentonnais take special pride in their three lemon varietals: Santa Theresa, Villafranca, and Eureka. These Menton lemons differ from other varieties because of their elliptical shape, lack of bitterness, richer color tones and high-oil rinds that yield a more noticeable scent. Each year 150 metric tons are produced and it is claimed that Menton is the only place in the world where the lemons taste delicious eaten from the tree.

The otherwise humble town wears its devotion to citrus on its streets, and in every restaurant. Visitors can expect to savor citrus jams at breakfast, take limoncello shots at the end of dinner, and walk the streets with lemon gelato in hand. Menton’s famed farmers even send their lemon oil to Grasse for perfume, and three-Michelin-star chef Mauro Colagreco, whose acclaimed restaurant Mirazur has brought Menton renewed fame, grows his own lemon trees in a small orchard.

This local obsession with lemons reaches its peak in the middle of February when the city celebrates the annual Fête du Citron.

Fête du Citron Festival Highlights

The entire festival has four main parts: The Exhibition of Citrus Patterns, the Golden Fruit Parades, the Gardens of Lights, and the Evening Parades.

The festival is taking place between February 17 to March 3, 2024

Here are the details and schedule of each event:

Citrus Sculptures & Patterns

Golden Fruit Afternoon Parades

Evening Parades

Gardens of Lights

Surrounding Events & Activities

There is a wide range of other events happening during the festival. These include:

Children’s Carnival: On the program: make-up and disguise lessons, and fun surprises, for everyone! The children’s event is held on Wednesdays at the Palais de l’Europe in the Salon de grande Bretagne and costs €5 per child and €8 per adult (tickets are sold on-site on the day of the event, and one drink and one pastry included per starter). Children must come in costume.

Arts & Crafts Show: Local artisans present their work, including wooden sculptures, glass engraving, ceramics, pottery and gourmet citrus treats. Taste the citrus flavors and local foods that make up the Menton’s gourmet smorgasbord of delights. Held at the Palais de l’Europe every day from 10am to 6pm with free entry (on the first Saturday, opening day, doors open at 3:30pm).

Orchid Festival: Like the carnival, the evocative and exotic names of these hybrid, botanical, and miniature varieties invite us to take a journey to a far-off land. Held at the Palais de l’Europe every day from 10am to 6pm with free entry (on the first Saturday, opening day, doors open at 3:30pm).

Garden Tours and Mimosa Hikes: Get into nature with guided tours of spectacular local gardens, or take a hike and see the beautiful yellow Mimosa trees. See the full schedule here.

Workshops: Enjoy a lemon pie or citrus pruning workshop. See the full schedule here.

Live Theater & Concerts: Each year there are several concerts and live theater shows. See the full schedule here.

Insider Tips for the Fête du Citron

Unfortunately, being smaller than Nice, Menton is severely affected by the invasion of guests during this time. There are traffic jams everywhere, and crowds of people march down the narrow streets and along the promenade. It’s best to take the train into town, as parking is very difficult to find.

In case you think that this event is a big waste of food (we do too!), know that you can stock up on cheap fruit as it’s all for sale after the festival. There’s also plenty of citron-related products for sale throughout the festival.

If you are going to the parades, make sure you get there at least 90 minutes early as there are security checks and it’s tough to get around the city center, especially if you have a pushchair and children. 

Avoid the weekends, as they’re packed. The least-crowded times to go are weekday mornings.

Video of Menton’s Fête du Citron

Menton Fête du Citron: 2023 Event Details

Similar Events: Check out our complete Monaco & the French Riviera events calendar.