What to Do in July in and around Nice – 2026
Summer Jazz Festivals:
The Cote d’Azur hosts some of the best jazz festivals in Europe:
The Nice Jazz Fest July 23-26, 2026. The Riviera jazz festival offering the best bang for the buck, it features 7 concerts a night between two different stages plus a large food/picnic area. Here are all the details plus insider tips.
The festival also features an ‘Off’ section with free concerts all over town, plus nightly jam sessions and special events at all the local jazz clubs.
Jazz à Juan July 9-19, 2026 features two top-tier concerts nightly on the Riviera’s most stunning sunset sea-view stage, in the village of Juan-les-Pins, near Antibes. This is a high-end festival, both in headliner quality and price. There are no bad seats, and even a standing section available for reduced prices.
Nuits du Sud July 9-18, 2026, a fun series of world music concerts held in the Vence town square over 2 weekends. Tickets are 32€ for most nights, and 39€ for July 10.
Jazz/Blues/Rock Concerts in Nice Besides nightly concerts at local jazz clubs and rock bars, there is also a robust monthly concert schedule with Nice Music Live; the concerts at Theatre de Verdure, Black Box, and Stockfish, all have easy tramway access.
If Classical is more your bag:
Nice Classic Cathedrale concert series every Friday night at 8:30pm 2026 dates TBD in the magnificent Cathedrale Sainte-Reparate in Old Nice. 2026 schedule TBD, 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, July 21 through August 9, 2026. Tickets are 9-19€. Easy access with bus #5 until 1am.
L’Oiseau Bleu Classic Music Festival July 2026 dates TBD at the St-Francois-de-Paul baroque church just across from the Nice Opera. 8:30pm, tickets 20€, tram stop Opera.
Sunday Orchestra Concerts in the Park – FREE – Every Sunday in July at 3:30pm the Nice Orchestra d’Harmonie gives a free open-air concert in the gazebo in the Cimiez gardens. Click here for this week’s program. To find it, just take the bus #5 Rimiez and get off at the Musee Matisse stop, and you might as well visit the Matisse Museum or adjacent Roman Ruins as long as you’re up there!
Les Soirees Estivals (Midsummer Nights Concerts) – FREE – Over 500 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. Most are in the small hill towns but there is a free Thursday night Jazz’Art Lympia concert series on the terraces on the far side of the Nice Port from 8-9pm starting July 16, 2026. Tram stop Port
Organ Recital at La Providence in Old Nice – July 4, 2026 at 8:30pm. Enjoy a 1-hour baroque organ concert… Tickets 18€
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 a glass of Champagne and 3-course dinner in the villa. There is also a family admission of 80€ for two adults and 2 children.
Dance Parties:
Free Summer Swing Dancing – Every Sunday 6pm-8:30, 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
Amour Plage is rocking out this summer with a slate of concerts on the beach! Rock, Indy, Electro, DJ… ticket prices range from 12€ (DJ nights) to 34-44€ for the live concerts. July 16, 19, 28 and 30.
La Kermesse Festival Nice – July 3-5, 2026 at Theatre de Verdure with band after band of retro rock in a cool relaxed vibe. Day passes start at 50€
Cannes Bal de Fous Themed masked blow-out dance parties on the beach in Cannes, every Sunday night in July. Tickets are 30€ and over-18’s only.
Other July events…
Villefranche-sur-mer’s retro American 4th of July Festival is a blast from the past with an afternoon parade in army jeeps, and from 6pm-11pm music and dance in the town square. Villefranche was a favorite US serviceman’s hang-out during WWII, and it celebrates US independence day with a 1940’s flair. Villefranche-sur-mer is easy to get to from Nice by bus or train.
Bellet Winery Shuttle – Every Friday and Saturday in July, Nice runs a special shuttle bus that does a continuous loop of Bellet wineries for the cost of a regular bus ticket!
- Cannes Festival of Pyrotechnic Art – July 3, 13, 21, 2026
- Antibes Juan-les-Pins – July 12 and 13, 2026
- Beaulieu-sur-mer – July 13, 2026
- Vallauris Golfe-Juan – July 14, 2026
- Monaco Pyromelodic Competition – Sat. July 25, 2026
- Cagnes-sur-mer Fireworks and Beach Party – Sat. July 25, 2026
Pink Parade/Nice Gay Pride Parade – FREE…and freeing! 4pm Sunday date TBD, 2026. Glam up and gather at the Nice Port at 4pm, when the parade struts down the Promenade des Anglais to the Negresco and back. And that’s when they really get the Pink Party really kicks into gear with pink drinks, DJ’s, dancing and fabulousness from 6pm-11pm, when the everyone will probably head to rue Bonaparte.
Secret Bar Hidden in a Church: The magnificent Eglise du Gesu Church in the Old Town has a secret… in the far right corner is the doorway to the church’s own bar, called Le Bethel, tucked in a hidden interior patio. In previous years the secret got out and the bar got out of control, so this year it is open only on Friday nights starting at 5pm with a set program of DJ’s, films and concerts, and is only by paid reservation via Fever.
Bargain Hunters:
The 2026 Giant Summer Clearance Sales (Soldes) run from June 24 to July 21, 2026 (and July 6 to mid-Aug just over the border in Italy…) It’s shocking for Americans, but in France the dates when stores can have big blowout sales are regulated by law (!), so everything goes on sale all at once!
Film/Theater Buffs:
Open-Air Cinema on the Nice Port – FREE classic films presented on the big screen Wednesday July 22 (To Catch a Thief) and July 29 (Gentlemen Prefer Blonds) at 9:30pm. The films are in original version but the French films have English subtitles and some are in English. Tram stop Nice Port
More for film buffs: Beat the heat inside a cool cinema: July 1, 2026 is the last day of the Fete de la Cinema where all movies are just 5€ a ticket. Here’s a guide to cinemas in Nice with films in English.
Stand up Comedy in English – Every Sunday, the Bobar Comedy Club in Old Nice does a stand-up comedy show (Spill the Tea) in English at 5:15pm 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 – Every evening from July 6-26, 2026 at 7pm at the far end of the Promenade du Paillon gardens. These nightly 1-hour performances (in French) start just after the sun drops behind the palms. Tram stop Cathedrale or Garibaldi
Historic Commemorations:
Pre-Bastille Day Fireworks, July 13. Several nearby towns do fireworks at 10pm, including Beaulieu-sur-mer and Antibes.
Bastille Day July 14. Since the Nice Bastille Day Attack in 2016, Nice no longer does the traditional Bastille Day fireworks, but it does do a Military Parade along the Prom at 9:15am. Instead the focus of this day is a series of memorial ceremonies for the victims, culminating in a large free public open-air concert by the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra in the Theatre de Verdure, across from the Prom, at 9pm. At the end of the concert, at exactly 10:34pm, the most tragic and heartbreaking night in Nice’s recent history is marked with the lighting of 86 spotlights, one for each victim, that shine to the heavens.
Fete du Malonat in Old Nice -FREE- July 25/26, 2026. A yearly tribute to the Madonna for protecting this little neighborhood from the Cholera plague of 1854. With the epidemic flaming, the hospital was at capacity and started sending the overflow to the convents. This neighborhood was full of fishermen families, who panicked to have so many sick sent into their midst, and too poor to get out of town, so they turned to the Madonna to save them. The survivors promised her a yearly procession, and they’ve kept their word through generations.
On Saturday it starts at 8pm when they free Mary from her shrine and carry her from Malonat to the Church du Gesu and back. On Sunday there is a celebratory mass at the Church of Gesu at 10:30am, followed by a procession with the Virgin through town on the way back to her shrine, then the yearly dedication ceremony, and finishing off with a aperitif and nibbles offered by the city at noon. If you have never been a part of a religious procession dating from the medieval ages, here’s your chance! Tram stop Cathedrale
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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Photo credits: Fireworks by Billy Hicks, licensed by Creative Commons. Nice Jazz Festival by Alain Morana.