What to Do in August in and around Nice – 2025

The Annual French Sales ended in July, but the Annual Sales in Italy go until August 18, 2025!  It’s a great excuse to hop over to Ventimiglia or Sanremo for a shopping day!

Grasse Jasmine Festival – Free- August 1-3, 2025 The perfume capital of the world holds its annual Jasmine Festival the first weekend in August, and is an easy day trip from Nice.

Jazz’Art Lympia concert series – FREE – under the stars on the terraces on the far side of the Nice Port every Thursday from 8-9pm August 7, 14, 21, 28, 2025.  Tram stop Port.  This is part of Les Soirees Estivals (Midsummer Nights Concerts) with over 500 free concerts all summer long in all the towns and villages up and down the coast.  Click the link for the program and calendar, or sort by village.

Bellet Winery Shuttle – Every Friday and Saturday in August, Nice runs a special shuttle bus that does a continuous loop of 6 Bellet wineries for the cost of a regular bus day -ticket!

Fireworks!

Fireworks wiki by Billy Hicks

Film and Theater Buffs:

Open-Air Cinema on the Nice Port – FREE – every Wednesday – classic films presented on the big screen every Wednesday night at 9:30pm.  The films are in original version but the French ones have English subtitles. Tram stop Nice Port

Coupole Bischoffsheim.jpgSci-Fi Films in the Nice Observatory!  August 2025 dates tbd, tickets 29€ for adults and 15€ for kids, door open at 7pm.  A one-of-a-kind screening of a sci-fi classic inside the coupole of the Nice Observatory, which opens to the stars at the end of the film!  There are food trucks and cash bar for pre- and post- screening, plus the Observatory’s Universarium to explore.  Bring the family to share an unforgettable screening of ET, Men in Black, or Return to the Future, shown in English with French subtitles.

Stand up Comedy in English – Every Sunday, the new Bobar Comedy Club in Old Nice does a stand-up comedy show (Spill the Tea) in English at 7:30pm and cover charge is just 8€ or 5€ students.  27 rue Benoit Bunico, tram stop Cathedrale.

La Castellada – August 8-19, 2025, 9:30pm-11:30pm on top of the Nice Chateau.  If your French is good, your legs are strong, and you love history, this is a rare occasion to be at the top of the Chateau (normally closed at night) and participate in a movable musical/theatrical interpretation of Nice’s rocambolesque history in 11 vignettes, under the stars, and right where it all happened. (Here is a little cheat sheet to help you follow along).  Tickets are only 12€, less than a movie ticket, and there is a snack bar and drinks available on site.  Only catch is you have to walk up a lot of steps (500?) to get up there (the gates open at 8pm, so take your time), but once you’re up there it’s totally worth it, and what a view.  Tram stop Cathedrale.

Contes de l’Apero (loosely translated to The Happy Hour Tales) Theater in the Park – FREE – Each evening at 7pm through August 3, 2025 at the far end of the Promenade du Paillon gardens.  These nightly open-air performances and readings are in French, and start just as the sun dips behind the hills.  Tram stop Cathedrale or Garibaldi.

Historical Celebrations

Fete de Catherine Segurane – free – Thursday, August 14, 2025 – Nice pays homage to the lowly laundry woman who in 1543 not only killed a soldier with her rug-beating stick but then grabbed his flag, stood atop the village wall for all to see, and wiped her ass…! Her audacious act demoralized the invaders, saved Nice, and she became its unlikely heroine.   Gather at Place Saint-Francois in Old Nice at 6:30pm, then follow the crowd to the Saint-Augustin church and the stone sculpture that commemorates her daring deed.  Tramway Cathedrale or Garibaldi.

Assumption Day August 15 – Free – Meet in front of the Church in the Nice Port at 6pm for a short procession to Quai Entrecasteaux, followed by an open-air Catholic Mass celebrating Mary’s rise to the heavens.  But no fireworks this year.

More Music and Concerts

New! Opera Immersive Sound and Light Experience  A really cool 45-minute feast for the senses with an intricate 360 degree lightshow designed specifically for the majestic Nice Opera House, and all set to Opera classics .  Hourly shows from 3pm to 9pm daily from Wednesday through Sunday; tickets 22€ for adults, 15.40 for kids 6-18, free under 6, plus family pricing.  Tram stop Opera.

Nice Classic Cathedrale concert series every Friday night at 8:30pm from July 11-Aug 15, 2025 in the magnificent Cathedrale Sainte-Reparate in Old Nice.  Tickets start at 10€.  Tram stop Cathedrale.

Nice Classic Live classic music festival presents high-quality concerts under the stars in the dream-like French gardens of the Cimiez monastery, through August 9, 2025.  Tickets are 9-19€. Easy access with bus #5 until 1am.

Concerts in the Prince’s Palace – Monaco, late July/early August  – The Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra gives a series of summer concerts in a one-of-a-kind venue: the interior courtyard of the Palace of Monaco. It’s a coat and tie affair, and tickets go from as low as 30€ to up to 250€.

Les Nuits Rothschild  Every Monday and Tuesday night from July through August, the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild in Cap-Jean-Saint-Ferrat opens its doors from 7:45pm-midnight, for an evening ambiance like no other.  The villa is resplendent at night lit by hundreds of candles; enjoy live ballet and ‘dancing fountains’, wander the gardens with a ‘picnic panier’, enjoy the bar, or dine in the villa. Tickets are 35€, or 60€ including a picnic basket to enjoy in the gardens (note: no bringing in your own food/bottles), or 105€ including Champagne and 3-course dinner in the villa.  There is also a family admission of 80€ for two adults and 2 children.

The Nice Opera has all kinds of events going on every week: Here is this month’s schedule

Music on the Wild Side

Free Summer Swing Dancing – Sunday Aug 31, 6pm-8:30pm, the Place Palais de Justice in Old Nice turns into an open-air dance floor!  Swingin’Nice brings the music and the dancers show up and strut their stuff, and there are some pretty impressive pairs.  If you’re not up twirling, then just have a drink and watch from one of the surrounding bar terraces.  Tram stop Opera

Nice Tribute Festival  August 4-7, 2025  Relive  the classic era of rock with a 4-night open-air cover band tribute to ABBA, Supertramp, Pink Floyd, and Queen. Tickets 25€ or 80€ for a 4-night pass. Theatre de Verdure, across from the beach, tram stop Massena

Check out Les Plages Electroniques in Cannes, August 8-10, 2025.  A massive festival of electro and trance music with nightly beach raves until the wee hours…

Or… Cannes Bal de Fous Themed masked blow-out dance parties on the beach in Cannes, last three Sunday nights in August.  Tickets are 30€ and over-18’s only.

See Related Pages:

  • What to do on Sundays in Nice – free afternoon orchestra concerts, free museum days, special family-friendly concert matinees at the Opera House, and of course numerous Catholic masses to choose from…
  • Nice by Nite – concerts, jazz clubs, salsa and tango venues, pub quiz nights, English-language theater and movie venues…

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