What to Do in August in and around Nice – 2024
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!
The Annual French Sales ended in July, but the Annual Italian Sales go until August 19, 2024! It’s a great excuse to hop over to Ventimiglia or Sanremo for a shopping day!
Grasse Jasmine Festival – Free- August 2-4, 2024 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 1, 8, 22, 29, 2024. 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.
Fireworks!
It’s a pain getting back from Monaco at night, but it might be worth it for this: A free drone extravaganza over the Monaco Port at 10pm August 9, 2024. Over 800 drones will take over the sky in a spectacular choreographed light show.
- Assumption Day Fireworks – August 15 Nice on the Prom
- Fireworks and Beach Party in Cagnes-sur-mer – Aug 13
- Cannes Festival of Pyrotechnic Art – Aug 7, 15, 24, 2024
- Antibes Festival Pyromelodic – Aug 15, 22, 29 Juan-les-Pins, and Aug 24 in Antibes from the Fort Carre beaches
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 (Didier on Aug 7, and Le Grand Bain on Aug 28), and one is in English (Ghost Dog on Aug 21). Tram stop Nice Port
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.
Contes de l’Apero (loosely translated to The Happy Hour Tales) Theater in the Park – FREE – Each evening at 7pm through August 6 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 – Monday, August 14, 2023 – 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… saving Nice and becoming its 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. Also, fireworks.
80th Anniversary of the WWII Liberation of Nice
80 years ago on August 28, 1944, Nice was liberated from its Nazi WWII occupiers… Here is the amazing story of how Nice liberated itself and check out the outdoor exhibition of photos from the period at Place Garibaldi that will be inaugurated on this day.
To mark this dramatic 80-year anniversary, the city is throwing a week-long series of free parties, conferences, parades and expositions.
Saturday Aug. 24th: Giant free 40’s style big-band dance ball, 6pm-midnight, Theatre de Verdure. Costumes encouraged, food trucks on site.
Monday Aug. 26th: Free outdoor cinema in front of the Gare du Sud (tramstop Liberation), showing the film La Bataille du Rail (in French), with festivities starting at 8pm.
Tuesday, Aug. 27th: 6pm in the port (2 Quai Entrecasteaux, tramstop Port Lympia) Pop-up exposition Les Alpes-Maritimes Liberees followed by a street-fest with music by Gleen Big Band Memories.
As night falls, walk around to the other side of the port to the the Monument aux Morts for a concert, story-telling, and musical reenactment of the liberation of Nice at 8:30pm, finishing at 10pm with a torchlit vigil.
Wednesday, Aug. 28th:
10:30am Big WWII-era Military Parade with over 50 vehicles from jeeps to tanks to classic cars, plus retro costumes and artifacts, and all accompanied by New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. The parade starts in Saint Laurent du Var at 9am, drives to Nice via the Prom (10:30ish?), then up Gambetta, past the train station, back down avenue Jean Medecin, finishing around 11:30am at Place Massena where they will be on display all afternoon.
5pm Place Garibaldi unveils an open-air photo exhibition of never-before-shown photos from the occupation and liberation of Nice.
6pm Fly-over of Vintage WWII aircraft!
6:30pm Official ceremony at the Monument aux Morts.
More Music and Concerts
Nice Classic Basilique Festival – through August 13 – Classical concerts starting at 8:30pm and with tickets at 11-26€, or just 6€ for the organ recitals. Notre Dame church on Jean Medecin, Tram stop Jean Medecin.
Sacred Music Festival in the magnificent Cathedrale Sainte-Reparate in Old Nice July 1 to July 5, 2024, all tickets 20€, Tram stop Cathedrale
Beaulieu la Nuit Aug 2/3/4, 2024 is a music festival set in an ancient olive grove in the seaside town of Beaulieu-sur-mer. Easy access by train or bus from Nice.
Nice Classic Live classic music festival presents high-quality concerts under the stars in the dream-like French gardens of the Cimiez monastery August 5-7, 2024. Tickets are 9-19€. Easy access with bus #5 until 1am.
Sunday Orchestra Concerts in the Park – FREE every Sunday at 3:30pm the Nice Orchestra d’Harmonie gives a free concert in the gazebo in the Albert 1st gardens. Click here for this week’s program. To find it, just walk to the end of the Promenade du Paillon, where the gardens meet the seaside, and it is in the far right corner. Tram stop Massena
The Nice Chateau is rarely accessible at night, so don’t miss the special Candlelight Concert homage a Chopin Friday August 30 2024 starting at 9:30pm. Enjoy a classical concert lit by a thousand candles, with a rarely seen panoramic moonlight view over Nice. Tickets are expensive (42-55€) and you have to walk up the hill, but it will be worth it for a unique concert in a truly magical ambiance. Gates open at 8:45pm so get there early to savor the sunset before the concert.
Concerts in the Prince’s Palace – Monaco, Aug 1, 4, and 8, 2024 – 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
- Insider Tip: The Nice Opera ticket office has a last-minute ticket line, where one hour before the performance, unsold tickets drop to half-price …and for students and under-30s tickets are just 5€!
DJ and Electro
Electro Tribe Festival – Thursday 24 August 2024. A brand new Nice music festival that combines folkloric melodies with electro, resulting in surprising hybrid creations, often using obscure traditional musical instruments to innovate completely new music. Tickets 23€ online, 30€ at the door, 6-11pm Theatre de Verdure, tram stop Massena
LGBT Dolly White Party – FREE – Monday, August 14, 2023 – A fabulously free (in every sense) street party, thrown by the Nice LGBT community. DJ and electro, dancing, food trucks, buvettes, and of course an eye-popping crowd. Dress in white! 6pm-midnight Place du Pin and rue Bonaparte in the Nice Port, Tram stop Garibaldi or Port.
Check out Les Plages Electroniques in Cannes, August 16-18, 2024. 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:
- Weekly Open-Air Food and Antique Markets – don’t miss the famous Monday Antique Market at Cours Saleya
- 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…
- Summer in Nice: 5 Ways to Beat the Heat
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