Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice and President of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis, was present yesterday at the Carnival House for the traditional launch conference of this event, which will take place from February 17 to March 4, 2012.
The most important event of the Côte d’Azur in winter, and in France, the Nice Carnival is one of the three largest and most prestigious carnivals in the world, alongside Rio and Venice.
This year, the King of Carnival is the King of Sports. An echo to the 2012 London Olympic news as well as the sporting dynamism of Nice. The guest of honor at the Carnival will be Great Britain, with dedicated floats, troupes from the Notting Hill Carnival, and Scottish bagpipe groups invited to this major popular festival. Bearer of traditions, the Carnival has managed to develop and adapt to modernity while retaining its essence. For the past three years, a remarkable renewal has been underway in all sectors of this grand show that takes over the city for about twenty days.
A completely revised program
The program of this 128th edition has been completely redesigned according to the various audiences of the carnival. Thus, Tuesday afternoon will feature a carnival parade and Wednesday, a Battle of Flowers followed by an illuminated parade. This new arrangement is more family-friendly and makes it easier to create packages for visitors from other regions or even other countries.
Mayor Christian Estrosi also took the opportunity to announce changes to the location of the stands: “Tourists come to our city and the Côte d’Azur to see the sea, and I found it unfortunate to hide this view by placing the stands along the Promenade des Anglais. That is why they have been relocated to the Quai des Etats-Unis and will be, in addition, lower,” he specified.
Aurélie elected Queen of the Carnival
This launch conference was also an opportunity to reveal to the people of Nice the Queen of the Carnival. Since January, internet users from around the world have voted for their favorite candidate among the nine selected young women. This year, nearly 24,000 internet users from 27 different countries participated in the vote and chose Aurélie to represent “the beauty and smile of our city,” according to the words of the Mayor of Nice.
His Majesty “King of Sports” will reign over the 128th edition of the Carnival from February 17 to March 4. More information on the website nicecarnaval.com.
