The Independent Carnival for everyone

Nice’s independent carnival took place on Sunday afternoon. A very festive parade with flour and eggs as the main ingredients. Add a pinch of collective good humor and you get a Carnival that has become traditional, an unmissable gathering for those nostalgic for carnivals of yesteryear.

What does it mean to celebrate Nice’s Independent Carnival? Simply to stroll through the streets surrounding the Port and be dependent on nothing! Neither on one’s appearance nor on one’s actions. Neither on one’s wallet nor on one’s time. In short, to throw and receive eggs and flour. And to accept it with a smile, turning the other cheek.

It’s a state of mind: anything goes and any way. A bit like what reigns in the festivals of the Southwest or in the village celebrations of Provence and Languedoc. A true synergy of anything goes. Both in behavior and in attire. It is very difficult to understand what the carnival-goers are disguised as. On reflection, clothes serve more as protection than as costumes. Many dress in old clothes that are accustomed to all types of degradation. Clever and less ridiculous.

At this kind of event, you must not be afraid of ridicule and not fear dying from it. Men dressed as women, women dressed as men. Some as half-woman half-man. By the end of the procession, after several hours of parading, covered in flour, the carnival-goers no longer look like humans. In the end, they have returned to the origins of humanity, scatterbrained like pre-Neanderthal primates.

The goal of the game is that the entire setting of this burlesque march be in harmony with the independent carnival. A TAM bus passing by: seen once and soon covered in eggs and flour. Not very aesthetic but hilarious! Only on the condition of being in the state of mind of ANYTHING GOES. The passengers were torn between laughter and astonishment while the drivers watched in dismay at the sudden deterioration of their vehicle.

Percussion and techno sound, the Independent Carnival musically resembles the Techno Parade. It’s very festive. Very rhythmic, appreciated by young and old, women and children, it mainly serves to announce the passage of the Carnival to the residents of the neighborhood. They position themselves at their windows, apparently delighted, they blend into the atmosphere and participate in the celebration by shamefully throwing eggs and flour. Scientists have still not established which came first on the planet, the chicken or the egg. Carnival-goers, however, were able to observe that thrown from the third floor, the egg reaches its target before the flour.

Unconventional, wacky, the Independent Carnival is a Nice tradition. Far from the spirit of the official Carnival, it brings together each year a thousand people from Nice eager to rediscover the original spirit of carnival. That is to say, to have fun, have fun and always have fun while being dependent on nothing. Neither on the stands, nor on the budget, nor on the tourists. A bit like a village celebration where everyone seems to know each other and loves to get together to share the same state of mind. Long live the Independent Carnival. Hasta Siempre! Per Tougiou… For many years to come!