Welcome to the 75th Fête du Citron in Menton. The theme of this year's festival is The World's Islands. Here you see work in progress on a part of the design over the entrance to the Jardin Biovès. Every single lemon or orange is fixed in place with its own rubber band.
A team of 300 are involved: citrus fruit growers, gardeners, artists, metal workers but they are helped by an enormous band of volunteers from various villages and towns along the coast. 500,000 elastic bands are used and 145 metric tons of citrus are required for the titanic task of creating the giant chars (floats) which we'll see over the next days. The number of hours worked: 20,000.
More tomorrow...
A team of 300 are involved: citrus fruit growers, gardeners, artists, metal workers but they are helped by an enormous band of volunteers from various villages and towns along the coast. 500,000 elastic bands are used and 145 metric tons of citrus are required for the titanic task of creating the giant chars (floats) which we'll see over the next days. The number of hours worked: 20,000.
More tomorrow...
They take this Fête du Citron seriously don't they.
ReplyDeleteLooks like they do, Monsieur !
ReplyDeleteAnd, there never seems to be a cloud in the sky in Menton.
I am now counting the days till we arrive, but it seems that one must stock-up on rubber bands !
I hope they're not having a rubber band festival in September. That could cause a world shortage.
I wonder if Australia is represented at the festival, after-all, we are an island, we love des Fêtes du Citron.
I hope we get to see more of this wonderful festival.
Fabulous photo Jilly; I'm sure you will show us the other side when they've finished.
ReplyDeleteWhere does all that fruit go when the festival is over? (I'm hoping they are able to save some of it, at least.)
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine how good is the parfum of air there around !!!!
ReplyDeleteThat is a lot of citrus, 145 metric tons. Wow. I wonder if this is where all the orange and lemon slices come from in the bars around the world? Recycled Fete Du Citron (smile).
ReplyDeleteWow that is a lot of fruit juice!!!
ReplyDeleteWonder if the island of East New Britain will be there???
Fenix, after the festival, any fruit that is still in good condition is sold off at token prices in front of the Palais de l'Europe, for the pleasure of those who like to make jam, syrup, orange wine, etc. During the festival, workers replaces softened fruit continually so even on the last day, the displays are pristine.
ReplyDeleteDenton, not sure about the orange and lemon slices!!
Imaginative minds at word result in many delights throughout the world. The citrus smells must be divine.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's very good. I was hoping they'd do something like that. I could see myself making lots of preserved lemon and orange marmalade to give away, if I lived there. :)
ReplyDeleteWow. What a great idea. Great to see a shot from behind the scenes.
ReplyDelete