Events in Nice

Nice Jazz Festival. Anual event in July.

One of the biggest annual events in the French Riviera is without a doubt, the Nice Jazz Festival, which runs mid to late July. A tradition since the 1940's the festival is now one of the biggest and most important in the world, and sees more than 45,000 jazz lovers and 500 musicians come together every year for an 8 day festival that brings a whole new swing into the city.

The event takes place in the Cimez Arenas and Gardens from 7pm-12 midnight. In addition to the main stage inside a 2,000 year old Roman amphitheatre, two other stages are set up to accommodate a variety of blues, roots, soul, funk and more contemporary music.

Over the years some of the biggest names in jazz have been a part of the festival- from iconic greats like BB King and Miles Davis to contemporary groovers Joss Stone and Jamiroquai.

A day pass is reasonably priced at 35 euros, but the 8 day festival pass is just 179 euros. Book your accommodation well in advance to avoid disappointment.

Carnival Mardi Gras. Annual Event in February-March.

Nice's biggest annual festival originated in the Middle Ages when people came together to celebrate before the start of Lent. Today, more than 120 years later, Nice's winter Carnival is an eclectic, colourful explosion of colour light sound and dance as the streets come alive with concerts, parades, bands, markets, street theatre and fireworks.

Each year there is a theme- from politics, to fantasy, culture and world events. The main event is a series of scheduled themed parades- flowers, lights, giant papier mache figures march past a temporary bandstand on the Promendade de Anglais on colourful floats with dancers in brightly coloured costumes, music and plenty of carnival hype. There's streamers, confetti and balloons and the madness lasts for ten days.

Seating can be purchased in advance but tickets are not absolutely necessary to get to see the action, which culminates with a bonfire and fireworks spectacular in which the ‘festival King' figure is set ablaze! A great event for young and old.

You can learn more about the spanish culture sharing with people, a good way to do that is getting a Nice rental.