• On February 23, 1873, the first Nice Carnival paraded through the streets of the city.

  • The event will therefore celebrate its 150th anniversary this year, from February 10 to 26, around the "treasures of the world", the theme chosen in echo of Nice's inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

  • The event will also be marked by a touch of green, with the arrival of electric tanks, and by the return of Queernaval.

It was February 23, 1873. The first Nice Carnival paraded through the streets of the city.

The event will therefore celebrate its 150th anniversary this year, from February 10 to 26.

And for this anniversary edition, the first post-Covid, without an "evolving gauge" as was the case last year, the revelers have concocted a show around the "treasures of the world".

The king and queen will notably be entitled to Egyptian and Indian atmospheres, the town hall revealed exclusively to

20 Minutes

.

The event will also be marked by a touch of green, with the arrival of electric tanks, and by the return of Queernaval.

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World Heritage, star of parades

The king of this anniversary carnival was all found: "to honor Nice's inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List", it "will have the theme of world heritage treasures", announced Christian Estrosi in February 2022. Recognized in July 2021 as the "Riviera winter resort town", the capital of the Côte d'Azur has therefore planned to pay homage to the Wonders of the World.

With lots of ideas in the boxes of revelers.

“It's a theme that inevitably makes you travel.

We go to China, to the Orient, to Italy, everywhere”, points out Jean-Pierre Povigna, 80 years old, tireless, in the hangar where the tanks are being finalized.

Among the 16 who will parade during the corsos (on February 11, 14, 18, 21 and 25), his family is proud to carry out ten.

In particular, she is putting the finishing touches to an incredible dragon on her wall, which should cause a stir.

In addition to a platform to the glory of Nice, with pointu (the traditional Nice fishing boat), Bellanda tower, etc., the Povignas are also in charge of the king's and queen's floats, which will be entitled to atmospheres Egyptian and Indian, revealed the town hall exclusively to

20 Minutes

.

The boss of the event should be particularly "pharaonic".

Grasse and its perfumes, also recognized by Unesco, will also have the right to parade in a creation signed by designer Kristian.

Tanks go electric

“What place for ecology at the Nice Carnival?

“Last year,

20 Minutes

asked the question and the town hall assured that the environmental approach was “started with the revelers”.

In particular, they are asked “to use low-consumption projectors”, to use “biodegradable materials or materials with environmental classification” and to proceed “to the recycling and recovery of materials and equipment with a view to their reuse.

The carnival organization specifies that, "for several years, the city of Nice has also set up an 'eco-event' charter in order to reduce the environmental impact" of each event.

“We do what we can but, for the moment, there are in particular products, glues, which we do not yet know how to replace”, explains Gilles Povigna.

This reveler and his family, at the head of the France festivities company, will still allow the carnival to take a big leap forward this year.

Exit the tractor engines for two of the sixteen floats of the Battles of Flowers (February 12, 15, 18, 22 and 25), that of the Queen and another on the theme of Spain will run on electric power.

“We bought the different elements that we assembled ourselves, he explains.

It's an investment of 28,000 euros for each of these three-tonne platforms.

And this "experimentation" can be extended.

“It is a joint desire with the town hall but it will undoubtedly be more complicated for the tanks of the corsos”,

further specifies Gilles Povigna.

These weigh 25 tons.

And four for the Queernaval

It had taken place for the first time in 2015, then in 2016, and in 2019. But since then, nothing.

The Queernaval, "France's first gay carnival" still unique in France, is back in 2023 after several years of cancellation.

"We went through a period marked by a very complicated security context", in particular following the attack of July 14, 2016, "and by the health crisis linked to the Covid-19 pandemic", recalls Jean-Louis Longo, the co-president of the Nice LGBTQI Carnival Organizing Committee.

Four years after its last lap, the parade will return with two exhibition floats and 4-meter-high giants on Place Masséna on the evening of February 17.

With an aura stronger than ever.

"The Queernaval is now an integral part of the official Carnival program and also benefits from full funding from the tourist office," explains the manager.

While we had to forge private financial partnerships to be able to organize the first two editions.

»

In 2023, this "popular event open to all", which "is committed to promoting the values ​​of sharing, inclusion and living together", will be entitled to a gauge of 9,000 people.

Admission is always free but requires a mandatory reservation to be made online.

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