The Malonat Festival returns to Nice at the end of July. Until the ceremony, activities are planned throughout the month. But where does this tradition come from and how is Nice celebrating it this year?
The traditional Malonat Festival returns as it does every year since 1854. On the evening of Saturday, July 27, the statue of the Virgin is carried from Rue du Malonat to the Église du Jésus. On Sunday, the procession takes the statue back to its oratory, inaugurated on September 8, 1854, for the Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin.
The origins of the festival
The origin of this religious tradition goes back to when cholera appeared in Nice in July 1854. The inhabitants of the Malonat district, facing the severity of the disease, placed themselves under the protection of the Virgin Mary through official prayers of thanksgiving. The inscription engraved on the base of the statue commemorates that of August 2, 1854. The women of the district, calling themselves Prieuresses, collected money to finance the construction of an oratory in thanks for the end of the epidemic. Since 1854, the festival has had no interruption, not even during the Covid epidemic.
Upcoming celebrations
Besides July 27 and 28, several activities are offered to celebrate the 170th anniversary of the Malonat Virgin. An exhibition of about fifteen photos from the centennial of the Malonat Festival is held at the Église du Gèsu from July 6 to 28. It showcases “the Virgin of Malonat in majesty and the residents of the district in their finest moments,” according to Elisabeth Bondanelli, president of the Associacioun dóu Malounat. The exhibition will move to Rue du Malonat on July 27 and 28 with the addition of exclusive photos. A second exhibition will take place on the Terrasse dei Prioulessa titled “Women of Malonat, Children of Old Nice” on July 27 and 28.
Finally, for the two days of the festival, here is the program:
Saturday, July 27
- 8:00 PM: Rosary in front of the Oratory of Malonat
- 8:30 PM: Procession with the Virgin to the Église du Gèsu, then return to Malonat with the folk group Lou Cairèu Niçart
Sunday, July 28
- 10:30 AM: Mass at the Église du Gèsu. Singing by the choir of La Ciamada Nissarda and Ave Maria by Mrs. Marjorie Affre-Pollice
- 11:30 AM: Procession along Rue Droite to the Oratory of Malonat
- 11:45 AM: Blessing at the Oratory
- 12:00 PM: Friendship drink at Terrassa dei Prioulessa
