Le Carnaval de Nice

King of the Blue Planet

Friday, February 12 marked the start of the celebrated Nice Carnival. This carnival, which dates back hundreds of years is recognized as one of, if not the first carnivals and runs for two weeks long in the month of February. On Sunday, which happened to be Valentine’s Day, I had the opportunity to go see one of the carnival’s afternoon parades, which happened to be a parade unlike any other I have seen before.

The theme for the parade was “Blue Planet”. Given the theme the floats were based around mother earth and saving our planet. The floats were extremely colorful and often bizarre, utilizing tons of symbolism, many of which I still do not understand. Some of the floats worth mentioning include: An adorable tropical frog that represented the King of the Blue Planet, which they burn on the beach during the closing ceremonies....how sad. A man in a loin cloth holding up the pregnant belly of a woman that resembled an Avatar......yea probably something you wouldn’t typically see in the states. And of course no parade would be complete without the guest appearance of Super Obama. Yes exactly Super Obama.

Not sure what this is about

Super Obama

Not only were the floats not typical to those found in the states neither was the parade set up and traditions. (Mardi Gras in New Orleans probably being the only parade worth comparing) Along the parade route there were no barriers or barricades so the crowd closed in tightly around the floats sometimes even joining in on the precession. From my perspective this could be dangerous, but I of course threw caution to the wind and pushed up close with everyone else. Fortunately, I made it out alive and to my knowledge there were no casualties. In regards to tradition if you are really in the parade spirit you either wear a mask, where a costume or if you are really in the spirit wear both. It is also custom for children and adults alike to throw confetti and shoot silly string at the floats, people marching in the parade, each other and anyone in sight. I think I will be finding confetti in my room for weeks to come. This tradition of course was quite entertaining to watch, but not always fun being at the receiving end. The carnival ended up being quite an experience, one that I will probably consider taking part in again! More Pictures

Steph after being hit with confetti and silly string

Rocking our masks!