Nice: Carnival and the Festival Calendar
Nice keeps a busy events calendar, weighted toward late winter and summer. Here are the ones worth planning a trip around, with the corrections some guides get wrong about where they actually happen.
Nice Carnival, February 11 to March 1, 2026
The big one, and one of the oldest carnivals in Europe. The 2026 edition runs under the theme “Vive la Reine” (Long Live the Queen), historically the first time in the event’s 200-plus year run that it centres a queen rather than a king, with giant illuminated figures up to 20m tall depicting historical heroines. Expect the flower-battle parades and the lit night parades around Place Masséna. Book accommodation early, since Carnival week is one of the two annual price spikes.
Nice Jazz Festival, July
Held in the Jardin Albert 1er and the Cimiez Roman arena, not on Castle Hill and nothing to do with Cannes’ festivals, this is a Nice event with its own July dates, reported around the 23rd to the 26th in 2026 (verify closer to your trip). The setting, a working concert inside a 2nd-century Roman amphitheatre on the Cimiez nights, is half the appeal.
Bastille Day, July 14, 2026
July 14 is France’s national day, and Nice normally marks it with evening fireworks over the bay. It calls for a note rather than routine party copy: July 14, 2026 is the tenth anniversary of the 2016 truck attack on the Promenade des Anglais, in which 86 people were killed. Many residents and visitors will hold that in mind. If you are in the city that day, treat the anniversary with the gravity it deserves, and check official guidance for how the date is being marked in 2026.
Menton’s Fête du Citron, February
Not in Nice, but a short train down the coast, Menton’s lemon festival fills February with giant citrus sculptures and overlaps Nice’s Carnival season, making the two easy to pair on one trip.
The Christmas market, December
Through December, a Christmas market sets up in the city centre with festive food stalls, mulled wine, and gifts, alongside a seasonal calendar of concerts. A low-key, cold-weather reason to visit outside the summer crush.
The harbour festival, September
Port Lympia hosts a food and tasting festival on the waterfront in September, with concerts, one of the quieter local events that few visitors time their trip around.
Read more: our Nice guide has the wider picture, and the travel tips cover the best months to come.