Love lemons? Come with me and explore some of the delights of the Menton Lemon Festival.
Sweet dreams are made of this
A slice of lemon with that Madam? The waiter leans over and drops a slice of lemon in my ice filled glass with a flourish.
I’m surrounded by lemons
It’s February, it’s Menton on the Cote d’Azur… and it’s carnival. Or to be more accurate, it’s the annual exuberant, extravagant lemon festival in Menton. I’m here in the week before the big parade on Saturday 11th Feb and the town is a hive of activity.
The Pearl of the Mediterranean
Menton calls itself the pearl of the Mediterranean. Hugging the coastline between Monaco and the Italian border this little French town is a riot of colour at any time of year.
The facades of the higgeldy piggeldy houses of the old town are painted in rich sienna, warm ochres and soft rose petal pinks.
As they wind their way down the hillside alongside alley ways, cobbled streets and lantern lit staircases, they look like an artist has dropped his palette.
In a summer state of mind
The colours flow down into the sandy Garavan Bay with its string of beach side restaurants, bars and little white boats bobbing in the sunlight.
The golden light of winter
Menton has always been popular with winter tourists. Its mild climate and its golden winter light have attracted the rich and the not so rich for decades.
Back in the late 1800’s a group of hoteliers floated the idea of a winter exhibition of flowers and citrus fruits to enliven the season even more. The success of these winter exhibitions led to the creation of the famous lemon festival in 1934, and 89 years later, it’s still going strong.
Lemons and Oranges
Why lemons? Menton has been famous for its lemons for centuries. Once the leading grower of lemons in Europe, Menton exported lemons worldwide to counteract scurvy and provide a novelty for the dining tables of the wealthy.
Oranges are also to be found everywhere in Menton. The town’s streets are lined with heavily laden orange trees in the winter and, of course, everywhere serves freshly squeezed orange juice.
Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy
What’s so special about the Menton lemon?
The lemons that are indigenous to Menton differ from lemons from Italy and Spain. They’re generally larger and have a very thick, knobbly peel.
Apparently they’re higher in citric acids and contain more essential oils than other lemons. They also grow fifteen to a branch instead of the usual five.
Lemons and Love
Legend has it that it was Eve, of Adam and Eve fame, who brought the first lemon to Menton.
When they were expelled from the Garden of Eden, Eve took with her, not an apple, but the golden fruit of the lemon.
On leaving the garden she said to Adam that she would place the fruit in the most beautiful country she saw.
They were so enchanted by Menton that she threw the lemon onto a terrace, saying ‘Go, prosper and multiply, make this place a paradise so that people who stay here throughout the ages will find a little taste of the Garden of Eden’…or something similar.
Paradise is anywhere with lemonade
The Fete du Citron 2023
This year’s lemon festival runs from February 11th – 26th and the theme this time is ‘Rock and Opera’. It’s a celebration of some of the most iconic musicians and the best known operas in the world and is the ideal pretext for a heck of a good party.
Even the festival mascot, John Lemon, has got in on the act. You’ll find him popping up all over the town sporting an Elvis like quiff this year.
Yes, well…
Lemon Aid to Band Aid
The most eye catching part of the whole thing though has to be the enormous 30 foot sculptures. They dominate the main gardens in the centre of town.
It takes 400 people to design and build the sculptures. They use over 140 tons of lemons and oranges imported mainly from Spain. If you look closely you’ll see that each fruit is attached to a framework by a single rubber band. Painstaking work for teams of employees in the days running up to the festival.
What’s On during the Festival
Apart from the main sculptures there are the street parades of decorated floats on Sundays 11th, 19th and 26th February and night time parades on Thursdays 16th and 23rd February. There are guided tours of Menton and the surrounding areas, exhibitions and a children’s carnival on Wednesdays.
There’s enough confetti for a royal wedding, rock bands and street entertainment each day of the festival. The highlight for me is the tribute to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. The concert celebrates 50 years since the release of the iconic album by one of the world’s greatest bands. Find more details in the festival programme.
For the full festival programme for 2023 see HERE
Finally, did you know that the lemon is a symbol of abundance, prosperity and good luck? That’s more than enough reason to head for Menton. Or at least fill a bowl with them in your kitchen while you plan next year’s trip. Why not check out the epic route across the French Alps from Evian les Bains to Menton?
