Fête du Mimosa Mandelieu

The 2027 Fête du Mimosa runs in Mandelieu-la-Napoule from Wednesday 10 to Sunday 14 February, confirmed on the town’s official agenda page. Five days of flower parades, an illuminated night corso and free seafront viewing mark the end of the region’s mimosa-picking season, with the harvest itself supplying the tonnes of yellow blossom that cover the floats.

When is the Fête du Mimosa?

The 2027 edition is confirmed for 10-14 February on Mandelieu-la-Napoule’s official municipal site. That’s the same fortnight as Nice Carnival (9-28 February 2027) and Menton’s Fête du Citron (13-28 February 2027), which makes late winter the busiest — and most flower-filled — stretch of the year on this part of the coast.

Within the five days, two events anchor the programme. The Corso Fleuri Nocturne, an illuminated night parade, sets off from Capitou — the town’s historic mimosa-growers’ district — on the Saturday evening; it’s free to watch. The Grand Corso Fleuri, the festival’s main event, runs on the Sunday afternoon along the seafront opposite the Château de La Napoule, with floats built from several tonnes of mimosa and other flowers. Exact hour-by-hour timings for 2027 had not been published when this guide was written; the town’s tourism office (mandelieu-tourisme.com) posts the full programme closer to the date.

The festival has run in some form since 1931, according to the tourism office, making it one of the older flower festivals on the Riviera — not far off a century of history, even if the exact theme and scale have shifted from year to year. The 2027 theme is “Le mimosa entre en jeu.”

What to expect

The Grand Corso Fleuri (Sunday afternoon) is the centrepiece: decorated floats — some built almost entirely from mimosa, others mixing in other winter blooms — move along Avenue Henry Clews on the La Napoule seafront, accompanied by dancers, musicians, stilt-walkers and acrobats. Reserved grandstand (tribune) seating is available to book in advance for a fee; standing room along the promenade is free, so you don’t need a ticket to watch the parade itself, only to guarantee a seat.

The Corso Fleuri Nocturne (Saturday evening) is a smaller, free illuminated parade, with lit floats departing from Capitou and moving through town, followed by live music, food stalls and mulled wine in the centre. It has a more local, low-key feel than the Sunday event.

Away from the parades, the programme typically includes a mimosa distribution, the election of Miss Mandelieu, a children’s carnival and fairground activities, concerts, and a fireworks display. Place de France is the main gathering point for much of this, with events also spread across Capitou and the seafront.

Family suitability: the free promenade viewing, mimosa giveaways and children’s carnival make this an easy festival to bring kids to, and it’s smaller and less crowded than Nice Carnival a few days’ drive — or one train stop — along the coast. The Saturday night corso in particular has a gentler, more neighbourhood atmosphere than a big-city evening parade.

The Route du Mimosa: Mandelieu-la-Napoule is one of eight stops on the 130km Route du Mimosa, which runs from Bormes-les-Mimosas to Grasse and passes through the Tanneron forest — reportedly the largest mimosa forest in Europe, with an arboretum of more than 100 species. If you’re visiting for the festival in a car, the drive up into the Tanneron hills to see mimosa in bloom is a natural add-on, though it’s a separate excursion from the town-centre festival itself.

Getting there

Mandelieu-la-Napoule sits on the coast between Cannes and Théoule-sur-Mer, a short hop from Cannes and roughly 30km from Nice.

By train, the Gare de Mandelieu-la-Napoule is a short walk — a few hundred metres — from the festival’s town-centre venues, and it sits on the coastal TER line that also serves Cannes and Nice. The ride from Cannes takes only a few minutes; from Nice, budget around 40 minutes, depending on the service. This is the simplest way to arrive, especially given that road access into the centre is restricted during Sunday afternoon’s parade.

By bus, services run from Cannes to Mandelieu.

By car, free parking is available around the town for most of the festival, but the centre is closed to traffic during the Sunday afternoon corso, and free shuttles typically run on the main parade day to help with access. If you’re driving, park early and expect to walk the last stretch.

Practical tips

Book grandstand seats early if you want them. Standing views along the promenade are free, but if you’d rather have a guaranteed seat for the Sunday corso, reserve a tribune ticket through the tourism office’s shop as soon as the 2027 booking window opens — prices for 2027 had not yet been published at the time of writing.

Dress for a February afternoon by the sea. Days in Mandelieu in February are often mild and sunny, similar to nearby Cannes, but the seafront can be breezy, and the Saturday night corso will be cooler after dark — bring a warm layer.

Combine it with Nice or Menton. Because the Mimosa festival’s five days sit inside the same fortnight as Nice Carnival and the Fête du Citron, it’s realistic to base yourself in Cannes or Nice and take short train trips to catch more than one festival in a single visit.

Check the official programme before you travel. The town publishes full daily timings, the parade route and any ticketing details on mandelieu-tourisme.com in the weeks before the festival — worth a final check, since exact hours can shift from what’s outlined here.