Fête du Citron 2027: Best Time to Visit, Dates and Travel Tips

Fête du Citron 2027 in Menton runs from Saturday 13 February to Sunday 28 February 2027, a stretch of 16 days, and it is the 93rd edition under the theme "Douce France" ^{1 2}. Online ticket sales opened on Monday 5 October 2026 ².

The festival is not one parade but a set of separate attractions, each with its own days:

• Citrus-motif exhibition in the Jardins Biovès: 13 to 28 February 2027 ⁶

• Salon des Orchidées et du Jardin d'Hiver at the Palais de l'Europe: Saturday 13 February at 9:00 to Sunday 28 February at 18:00 ²

• Craft market at the Mail du Bastion: 13 to 28 February 2027, free entry ⁹

• Corsos des fruits d'or: Sundays 14, 21 and 28 February 2027, starting at 14:30 ⁴

• Corsos nocturnes: Thursdays 18 and 25 February 2027, starting at 21:00 ⁵

• Jardins de Lumières: Tuesdays 16 and 23 February and Fridays 19 and 26 February 2027, at 20:30 ⁷

The mid-February slot is a habit that goes back to the beginning. In 1895 Menton's hoteliers asked the town hall for a parade to liven up the winter season, and the first parade took place in 1896 ¹⁴. The main lemon harvest runs from December into spring, so a February festival falls inside the season ¹⁵. The name Fête du Citron dates from 1934, after a flower and citrus exhibition in the gardens of the Hôtel Riviera in 1929 ¹⁴. France added the festival to its inventory of intangible cultural heritage in 2019 ².

If you can pick only one weekend, choose the week of Sunday 21 and Thursday 25 February 2027: that spans a Sunday corso, a night corso and both kinds of garden evening ^{4 5 7}.

Tip: The festival site has a day-by-day page, "Programme jour par jour", which lists every opening; check it again a week before you travel ¹.

Book your ticket online before you travel, because places for both corsos are limited and the organiser says booking is required ⁵. Ticket sales run through the official ticketing page linked from the festival site, with separate forms for groups of 20 or more and for holders of the French CMI disability card ¹.

For the Corsos des fruits d'or on Sundays 14, 21 and 28 February 2027, the 2027 tariffs are listed below ⁴:

• Grandstand seat (tribune): adult 30 EUR, group 25 EUR, reduced 15 EUR ⁴

• Standing promenade (promenoir): adult 16 EUR, group 15 EUR, reduced 8 EUR ⁴

• Children under 6: free standing place, but 15 EUR for a grandstand seat ⁴

The reduced rate is for children from 6 to 12 with proof of age ⁴. Every visitor needs a ticket, including the free-entry children under 6 ³.

The Jardins Biovès exhibition costs 12 EUR for adults in 2027, and that ticket also opens the orchid salon at the Palais de l'Europe ⁶. The orchid salon alone costs 5 EUR for adults ⁸. The Jardins de Lumières evening walk costs 16 EUR for adults ⁷. The craft market on the Mail du Bastion is free ⁹.

On Thursdays a package combines a grandstand seat for the night corso with one entry to the exhibition for 37 EUR per adult in 2027 ⁵.

A promenoir ticket lets you move around the enclosed area, and the organiser recommends Avenue Félix Faure and Avenue Carnot for standing spots, since the seafront side is mainly for the grandstands ¹⁰. Tickets are dated, non-refundable and issued in the buyer's name, but only the barcode is checked ¹⁰.

Tip: Fruit from the floats and giant structures is sorted after the festival and sold at the entrance to the Jardins Biovès; buyers use it for juice, liqueur or jam ¹⁶.

Take the TER (the regional ZOU! train) to Menton station, which stands 200 m from the Jardins Biovès and close to the seafront where the corsos pass ¹². During the festival, ZOU! trains run about every 15 minutes between Cannes and Menton, with extra trains for the evening corsos ¹².

An aggregator lists the Nice to Menton trip at about 32 minutes over roughly 21 km, with the cheapest ticket at about 6.70 EUR ²⁰. The official advice is to buy a return ticket on the TER Sud website to avoid queues, and the ticket is valid on any ZOU! train that day for the chosen route ¹².

Other ways to arrive:

• Menton-Garavan station: 1 km from the Italian border and 3 km from the event, so use it only if your hotel is in Garavan ¹²

• Nice Côte d'Azur airport: 42 km from Menton; bus line 80 runs between the airport and Menton in about 75 minutes ¹²

• Bus from Nice: ZOU! line 600 by day and line 601 in the evening take about one hour via the coast and Monaco ¹²

• Car: exit 59 (Menton) on the A8, then about 10 minutes to the centre ¹²

Driving is the weak option on festival days. Free parking P1 near motorway exit 59 has a shuttle to the town-centre bus station, about a 5-minute walk from the festival, running 9:30 to 13:30 and 15:30 to 18:00 on corso Sundays ¹³. P3 at the Stade du Val d'Anaud has a shuttle to Koaland, then about 15 minutes on foot ¹³. For night corsos, P2 at the Stade Rondelli in Garavan opens at 17:00, with no shuttle and about 15 minutes on foot ¹³. Interparking runs five underground car parks, but Saint-Roch lies inside the parade route ¹³.

The nearest map point is the Office de Tourisme at 8 avenue Boyer, 43.774148, 7.497607, inside the Palais de l'Europe ^{18 3}.

Tip: The tourist office stays open until 21:00 on Jardins de Lumières and night-corso days, so it is the place to ask about the last train ³.

Plan a corso day around the gates, not the parade: the organiser says the gates open at 11:00 on Sundays and at 18:00 on Thursdays, and entry is guaranteed only until 15 minutes after the show starts ¹⁰. For the Sunday corsos in 2027 the start is 14:30, so the practical cut-off is 14:45 ⁴.

The corsos des fruits d'or are parades of floats covered in citrus fruit, animated by dance and music groups, along the seafront on the Promenade du Soleil ^{4 18}. The parade loops around the casino ¹⁸. The night corsos on Thursday 18 and 25 February 2027 start at 21:00, and fireworks close the evening at 22:30 ⁵.

The Jardins de Lumières are the quieter option. They are a night walk of about one hour through the citrus decorations of the Jardins Biovès, with artistic lighting and groups along the route ⁷. Arrive by 21:30 at the latest, because the box office on site closes at 22:00 ⁷.

The map legend on the corso page shows entrance E, the ticket office (B), a cloakroom (C), toilets, first aid and accessible spaces ⁴. Wheelchair users have a dedicated area at Place Saint-Roch, and guide dogs are the only animals admitted, wearing the official harness ¹⁰. Dogs and other pets are barred from the parade route, the Palais de l'Europe and the exhibition ³.

The security rules shape the day:

• Arrive at least two hours early and carry as few bags as you can ¹¹

• Metal detectors, bag inspection and pat-downs run at every entrance ¹¹

• Lockers are available before the entry points ¹¹

• Drones are banned over the whole event ¹¹

• Umbrellas, glass or metal containers, streamers and large suitcases are not allowed ¹¹

• Alcohol is banned, knives of any kind are banned, and folding chairs are banned ¹⁰

Food is allowed into the corso, and snack bars and restaurants operate inside it for ticket holders ¹⁰. Plastic water bottles are the safe choice, as flasks are refused ¹⁰. Portable toilets stand in the corso area and the Biovès gardens, and there is a first-aid point on the corso map ^{4 10}.

The City of Menton can cancel or interrupt a corso because of the weather, announcing it up to 15 minutes before the start; if a show is interrupted after more than half its duration, there is no refund ¹⁰.

Tip: Costumes grant no free entry, and confusing, religious, military or insulting costumes are banned ¹⁰.

February in Menton averages a 13 °C high and a 6 °C low, with sea temperatures near 13 °C ¹⁷. The same climate source gives about 5.6 hours of sunshine a day and about 9.6 days with some rain across the month ¹⁷.

That makes the town mild by European standards but not warm. You will stand still for a long time at a corso, waiting for the floats, and a standing place on the promenade gives no shelter. In the evening, once the sun has gone, the 6 °C minimum feels colder next to the sea, especially on Thursdays when the night corso starts at 21:00 ^{5 17}.

Pack with those hours in mind:

• A warm jacket and a hat for the standing places

• A light waterproof; umbrellas are not allowed inside the corso area ¹¹

• Comfortable shoes, since the walk between a parking shuttle and the gates can reach 15 to 25 minutes ¹³

• A small bag, as large bags are refused at the gates ¹¹

• A plastic water bottle, because flasks are not accepted ¹⁰

Crowds are the other weather. The festival draws more than 250,000 visitors each year ². Sunday corsos and Thursday night corsos have a fixed maximum capacity, so the rush is at the gates before the parade rather than along the route ¹⁰. The official advice is to arrive in Menton before 11:00 on Sundays and before 18:00 on Thursdays ³. The exhibition can be visited on any of the 16 days, so a weekday gives you the gardens without a corso crowd ⁶.

The organiser reserves the right to cancel or interrupt a corso in bad weather, and the decision is announced by loudspeaker, website and social media ¹⁰.

Note: The figures above are climate averages, not a forecast; check a live forecast three days before you travel ¹⁷.

Stay in the town centre near Menton station if you want to walk to the Jardins Biovès in a few minutes, since the station is 200 m from the gardens ¹². The centre is also where the corso entrances, the Office de Tourisme and the Palais de l'Europe sit ^{3 4}.

Garavan, at the eastern end, suits travellers who prefer a longer walk and a view: from its port you look across the water to the old town and the Bastion ¹⁹. Menton-Garavan station is 3 km from the event, and the Italian border is 1 km away ¹². After a night corso, Garavan has its own parking at Stade Rondelli, about 15 minutes on foot from the route ¹³.

The festival site links a hotel map compiled by the Office de Tourisme, though the list is not exhaustive ¹. Camper-van capacity is very limited: Koaland opens to camper vans on Sundays from 8:00 to 19:00 and on Thursdays from 17:00 to midnight, with no booking, about 15 minutes' walk from the festival ^{10 13}.

Because a corso day involves long waits and an early arrival, booking close to the station helps most:

• Pick a room within about 15 minutes' walk of the Promenade du Soleil ¹³

• Ask whether the hotel holds luggage, because large suitcases are not allowed at the gates ¹¹

• Book as soon as you fix your corso day; ticket sales opened on 5 October 2026 ²

• If you stay outside Menton, plan around the ZOU! train, which runs about every 15 minutes between Cannes and Menton during the festival ¹²

The festival site gives no hotel prices, so check current rates on a booking platform before committing.

Tip: For Thursday night corsos, a bed within walking distance matters more than a cheap bed outside town, because the fireworks end at 22:30 ⁵.

Data is useful on a corso day because the day is a chain of timed steps: a train, a security line, a gate with a 15-minute cut-off, a ticket scan and a late train home ^{3 10 12}. Bring a phone that works in France from the moment you leave the airport or border.

An eSIM installed before departure means no search for a SIM shop on the day. A France eSIM can be switched on when you land at Nice Côte d'Azur airport and used on the airport bus, the TER and the walk to the gates ¹². It also covers a day over the border, since Menton-Garavan station is 1 km from Italy ¹².

What you will do online during the festival:

• Show a smartphone ticket at the entrance, as long as the barcode is readable ¹⁰

• Check live ZOU! train times, since extra trains run for the evening corsos ¹²

• Open the festival's interactive map to find your entrance and the cloakroom ^{1 4}

• Message your group about a meeting point, since entrances are spread along the route ¹¹

• Look up resale tickets on the official platform if your plans change ^{1 10}

Signal can drop where thousands of people press against the fences, so do not rely on a mobile connection for the one item you cannot lose. Save the e-ticket as a screenshot, download an offline map of Menton, and keep a power bank, because a corso day can last from a morning arrival to a night train.

Tip: Screenshot the grandstand sector letter (A to H) shown on your ticket before you leave the hotel, so you can follow signs to the right entrance without searching ⁴.