Discovering the “beautiful gardens of the Alpes-Maritimes” is like diving back into the history of the department, which, in the second half of the 19th century, attracted the grand bourgeoisie and aristocracy from all over Europe. Notably with hotels, palaces, and villas.
These beautiful words are followed by actions: Charles Ange Ginésy, president of CD06, announced the continuation of the Côte d’Azur Garden Festival: “At a time when the health crisis is leading to a new wave of cancellations of cultural and artistic events throughout France, the Department is once again taking responsibility. As we did in the summer of 2020 by maintaining the 400 Summer Evenings of the Department, we are launching the 3rd edition of the Côte d’Azur Garden Festival, which will take place from April 3 to 28, 2021.”
17 ephemeral gardens will compete in 5 communes of the Alpes-Maritimes and the Principality of Monaco.
Charles Ange Ginésy, President of the Alpes-Maritimes Department:
“At a time when the health crisis is leading to a new wave of cancellations of cultural and artistic events throughout France, the Department is once again taking responsibility. As we did in the summer of 2020 by maintaining the 400 Summer Evenings of the Department, we are launching the 3rd edition of the Côte d’Azur Garden Festival, which will take place from April 3 to 28, 2021.
We need, more than ever, flagship events to promote the attractiveness of the Alpes-Maritimes with the return of spring. The Côte d’Azur Garden Festival is an outdoor festival that takes place in full compliance with safety measures. We are betting on holding this third edition, which I hope will bring brightness and color back to our territory.
Thus, the public will be able to discover for free 28 “artistic” gardens including the 17 landscape creations in competition and 11 “off competition” ephemeral gardens. Creativity and innovation will be on hand to honor the contest theme “Artists’ Gardens.”
This year, we will have as the festival’s patron and jury president, the actress and author Audrey Fleurot. This land art enthusiast will bring her artistic sensibility to the festival. Beyond hosting two creations from the official competition by the Principality of Monaco, this festival is becoming more international with the participation of garden creators from Italy, Finland, and China.
The festival once again aligns with the eco-responsible and GREEN Deal approach, which is now the hallmark of our Department. The candidates will propose environmentally friendly creations and a “GREEN Deal” award will also be given to the most ecological garden.
An international competition.
From January to July 2020, the Department received applications from 9 different countries: France, Italy, United States, Poland, United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain, Finland, and Belgium. In total, 38 projects were judged on September 8, 2020, by a technical committee chaired by landscape architect Jean Mus, and composed of representatives of professional landscape associations and partner host communes, to select the 17 projects competing next April, which include 12 French projects, 3 Italian projects, 1 Finnish project, and 1 Chinese project (Hong Kong).
They will be visible in the partner communes of Antibes Juan-les-Pins, Cannes, Grasse, Menton, Nice and, new for this 2021 edition, in the Principality of Monaco.
The works will be evaluated next April by 3 juries and 7 awards will be presented. Audrey Fleurot, a multifaceted actress and author, has agreed to be the Patron of the “Côte d’Azur Garden Festival 2021.”
