The Lemon Festival

The last two weeks in February in the French town of Menton are given over to a magnificent festival dedicated to lemons.

In 1929 Menton became Europe’s lemon production leader, the event that inspired the city make the yellow citrus fruit the motif of the festival. The idea caught on and the lemon festival became one of the greatest French festivals and one of a kind in the world.

Events typical for the festivity are citrus parades with – besides lemon – oranges, tangerines, clementines and grapefruits. They are used to construct colorful towers, houses, fortresses, sculptures representing French regions. Everything blooms and smells with citrus.

Farmers exhibit their production – different marmalades and jellies from citrus, liqueurs, offer the famous Suzette pancakes and orange liqueur.