The best parties Alpes-Maritimes

In mid-September, the old city revives the times of the past, when the streets still raisonnaient from the horses, each takes the traditional costume of Provence in order to rediscover the son of the fifer and the tambourines his past. Its heritage of tradition and ancestral knowledge. At the village's chance, you will encounter beautiful ladies, sun and hats, proud gentlemen with a black hat.

Rediscover the scents and tastes of the artisanal manufacturing products where ancestral knowledge blends. Many trades are represented, ferronnier, blacksmith, stone tailor, vannier, potter, santonnier, lavandière, dentelière, rouet, rouet, and many other trades.

An artisanal showcase, demonstration of paintings on glass, wood, a choice of local products - honey, lavender, oil and olive - tasting over the course of the day, all in an old atmosphere.

Confetti, costumes and giant, colourful, fairy-tale parades, animated by thousands of people dressed up from all over the world... This is the atmosphere that takes over the streets of Nice every year in February, and has been for over 120 years. This Nice tradition is not just a confetti battle: it embodies the history of the city. On the programme: carnival parades, day and night, the famous Battle of the Flowers and the ritual of the King, burnt on the last day of the event on the beach, punctuated by a grandiose firework display.

Every year as Christmas approaches, merchants settle in their wooden chalet on Masséna Square and around the Coulée Verte on more than 3,000 m ². To come to the Christmas market is to plunge into a fairy tale: animation, craftsmen and creators, outages, bands, puppets, puppets, regional products, confectionery… Every winter, a theme is honored. The Christmas village is a nice way to immerse itself in the atmosphere of the holiday season.

This is one of the most beautiful traditional festivals in France! Organised by the association "The Circle of Peillasque Union", the festivities allow to share and make known the strong times of the lives of the inhabitants of yesteryear, very marked by the succession of harvests and thus seasons: the villagers and the exhibitors are doing so, the time of a weekend, to revive the actions of their elders, perpetuating the traditions of wheat and lavender cutting which make the village originality. The atmosphere is at the heart of joy and conviviality. Moreover, all those who wanted it can participate in the cuts.

Every summer, on the second Sunday in June, Escragnolles celebrates donkeys. In the neighborhood of Colette, donkeys from all regions of France are gathered. Demonstrations of maréchalerie, exhibitions and presentations of donkeys and ponies, promenades walks, as all visitors.

The day will begin with a procession with the bust of Saint Jean in front of the Church of Saint Jacques le Majeur at 9:00 am. For those who don't wish to walk to the Chapelle Saint Jean, two mini-buses will be available from the town hall at 10:00 am. An open-air mass will then be celebrated at Chapelle Saint Jean at 10:30 a.m., led by Father Georges and with the participation of catechism children. At midday, a large picnic will be held in the shade of the Papeterie trees, with an aperitif offered by the municipality. Food-trucks will be on hand for refreshments, and musical entertainment will be provided by Karine & Co. In the afternoon, several activities will be on offer, including wooden games for the whole family, pony rides for children and a boules competition hosted by the Cercle Bouliste.

The Feast of St. Roch (patron saint of shepherds) is a great peasant festival that traditionally takes place every year in mid-August. These 2 days of festivities are an opportunity for many activities to the sound of traditional music and dances: workshops and demonstrations of craft and agricultural trades, making beeswax objects and a living hive-hive school, discovering the activity of bees, making felt objects, pottery workshop with potter's wheel on foot, many workshops of old, horticulture workshop... The sheep parade takes place on Sundays to the sound of the bells exposed at the town hall: a highlight of the festivities !

The brotherhood of Saint-Roch seems to have been created before 1778. The confreres were animal owners who donated livestock and money, which gave a charitable role to the brotherhood. In order to complete the livestock, the brotherhood bought animals and thus managed a real business, buying or selling sheep, cheese or wool for its own management. The nest egg obtained made it possible to help a shepherd in financial difficulty by lending him money, or by renting the livestock, through the signing of a contract. In 1899, the company opened its doors to goatherds, then to the Granilais.

On the day of the celebration of the patron saint, during the great mass which takes place in the morning, the statue of the saint accompanies the procession through the streets of the village surrounding the collegiate church and is preceded by the prior carrying the flag of the brotherhood.

In addition to themed events, each year the Villages & Vallées d'Azur communes honor their patron saints. These festivities generally take place in summer, and the list is long: Saint Roch is celebrated in Valbonne, Saint Félix in Courmes, Sainte Julie in Les Ferres, Saint Arnoux in Gourdon, Saint Louis in Caussols, Saint Claude in Cipières, Sainte Pétronille in La Roque-en-Provence, Notre-Dame de Canlache in Roquefort-les-Pins, Notre-Dame du Rosaire in Conségudes, Notre-Dame du Peuple in Bézaudun-les-Alpes... On the program: pilgrimage, pétanque competition, meal and ball.