What to Do in November in and around Nice – 2025
C’est Pas Classique (It’s NOT Classic!) is a super fun and sometimes quite strange FREE music festival, November 8-23, 2025, with over 25 free concerts. To see the program, just click on ‘program’ and then scroll down, and for most concerts no ticket is required, you just show up. A select few DO need free tickets, which you can lock in online starting October 20 at 12:30pm (and they go fast!)… but even if they are sold out you can also waitlist as there are always people that reserved more than they could use.
The Picasso Museum in Antibes offers a free week for everybody every November, and this year it’s November 4-9, 2025.
Afterwork Jazz Concert at ‘secret bar’ Cave Bianchi – November 5 and 6, 2025, 6pm, Part of the Nice Opera’s Afterwork series, this short 1-hour homage to Jazz, Pop and Soul is held in a historic ‘secret bar’ that is rarely open to the public. The 20€ ticket (10€ for under-30s!) covers your first drink, and honestly this surprising venue is so cool you won’t want to miss it. 7 rue Raoul Bosio, tram stop Opera or Massena.
Nice-Cannes Marathon Sunday November 9, 2025 – Just possibly the most picturesque marathon course in the world!
Veterans Day/Remembrance Day is Armistice Day in France where they commemorate the end of WWI. In Nice there is a ceremony at the Monument des Morts, the giant memorial carved into the cliff overlooking the Nice Port. Many businesses are closed and trains/trams/busses run on Sunday schedules.
Catch a Vide Grenier (aka Flea Market/Car Boot Sale/Neighborhood Garage Sale) on Sunday November 9, 2025 all day until 6:30pm, starting just across from the tram stop Liberation on the street running along the left side of the Historic Gare de Sud.
Thursday November 20th is the date for the uncorking of the Beaujolais Nouveau, a young red wine that by law can’t be sold before the third Thursday in November. Honestly, the wine is not great, but it’s an excellent excuse for a festive moment in every wine shop in France! Click the link above to find out what it’s all about…
For a fun and oh-so-French way to celebrate, Hit a Nissa bar and café is throwing a Beaujolais apero concert featuring classic French chansons accompanied by… accordion, bien sur! 6:30pm-8:30pm, Thursday 20 November, Hit a Nissa 11 rue Lapante, tram stop Jean Medecin. Free entry, just order a drink.
The Opera de Monte-Carlo is presenting a Bonsoir Mont-Carlo, a tribute to Josephine Baker on November 18 and 21, 2025.
The Monte-Carlo Jazz Festival, November 20-December 4, 2025, held in the opulent Opera Garnier in Monaco, blending traditional jazz with creative influences in a stunning venue.
Stand up Comedy in English – Every Sunday 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.
Thanksgiving in Nice:
Thanksgiving is the holiday that tugs hardest on the heartstrings of American expats, because in France the third Thursday in November is just… Thursday. So attention nostalgic Americans: La Barque Bleue Restaurant in the Nice Port is offering a traditional Thanksgiving menu with all the trimmings, lunch, late lunch, or dinner, from Thursday November 27 all weekend through Sunday November 30, for 45€ per person. Reserve at labarquebleuenice@gmail.com or call +33 4 93 55 39 74. Tram stop Port Lympia
Also this might be the occasion to discover Delphine’s, a new arty cultural café/bar just above the Liberation neighborhood, that is going to do a Thanksgiving dinner with three courses for 40€. 34 boulevard Auguste Raynaud, tram stop Borriglione
Black Friday Sales – France has jumped on the Black Friday bandwagon, and even if they don’t really have any idea what it is or why… who cares? Hit the Black Friday Sales the entire last half of November, cha-ching!
After Thanksgiving, Christmas is just around the corner…
Annual Lighting Ceremony – Free – 6pm Friday November 28, 2025 at Place Massena. The mayor presides over this festive annual event to inaugurate the Christmas Village, but the best part is when suddenly all the holiday illuminations surrounding Place Massena go live all at once. This is the spot to snap that shot in time to make custom holiday photo cards…
Holy Trinity Christmas Market happening Saturday November 29, 2025 from 11am-3pm, with Christmas crafts, decorations and hand-made cards – as well as gifts, jewelry, artworks and books. Mulled wine, BBQ, homemade cakes… and a raffle. All proceeds go to upkeep of this historic church.
More Music and Concerts:
Free Sunday Orchestra Concerts – FREE – Every Sunday at 3:30pm the Nice Orchestra d’Harmonie gives a free concert in the either the Church in the Port (tram stop Port) or the Basilica Notre Dame (tram stop Jean Medecin). Click here and scroll down for this week’s concert program.
The Chagall Museum is hosts a monthly 1-hour classical concert by members of the Nice Philharmonic, and held in the magnificent stained-glass concert hall designed by Chagall himself. This month it is Monday Nov 24, 2025 at 7pm, violin and piano, and tickets are just 12€. Easy access up and down with bus #5 that runs until late, bus stop Musee Chagall.
FREE Museum Classical Concerts where the prestigious Nice Music Conservatory’s final-year students get to strut their stuff:
- Wed Nov 12 – Matisse Museum, 3-4pm, Carte Blanche
- Fri Nov 14 – L’Artistique Museum, 6:30pm-8pm, L’Heure Exquise
- Sat Nov 22 – Chagall Museum, 2-3pm, Carte Blanche
- Thu Nov 27 – Chagall Museum, 7-9pm, Hommage a Chagall
Classical Concerts in Nice’s fabulous Baroque Churches – These evening concerts are ticketed (usually around 20€ish but also often have senior/student discounts)
- Fri Nov 14 – Eglise Saint-Augustin in Old Nice – La Joie Vivaldi-Manfredini
- Sun Nov 16 – Protestant Temple blvd Victor Hugo – Kodaly, Bach, Ravel
- Sun Nov 23 – Palais de l’Agriculture (tram Magnan) – Reve d’Amour
- Thr Nov 27 – Eglise Saint-Francois-de-Paule – Musicam Ensemble
- Sat Nov 29 – La Providence Cultural Center in Old Nice – Baroque Strings
Each month, The Nice Opera features a major symphony and a big theatrical or dance production. This months main events:
- Tchaikovski Symphony – November 7&8, 2025
- Chansons de Paris Operette – November 22, 2025
- Company Operette – November 29&30, 2025
Insider Tips for an affordable Night at the Opera:
- Half-Price Last-Minute Ticket Line It’s called ‘Ticket Happy Hour’… just line up at the ticket booth 1-hour before the major performances and any unsold seats drop to half-price!
- Half-Price for under-30s If you are in your 20s, ALL performances are always half-price, no standing in line needed.
- Avoid the temptingly cheap tickets in the ironically-named ‘Paradise’ section: You enter through a decidedly unglamorous side-entrance and march all the way up to the attic section via a narrow winding stairwell. The seats are long benches, and if you are seated on the sides but not on the front row you will see nothing. The acoustics are actually good: the music rises… but so does the heat, so by the second act you will be peeling off layers and mopping your brow.
Besides the big productions, The Nice Opera also has all kinds of outreach events going on all month long… click here for this month’s complete schedule.
This month’s Candlelight Concerts are at the Chateau de Cremat winery (which is a beautiful venue but hard to get to if you don’t have a car) or under the fresques at the majestic Hotel Westminster right on the Promenade des Anglais.
New: They have just started doing Candlelight Concerts in Monaco as well, at the cliff-perched Oceanographic Museum…
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.
See Related Pages:
- Weekly Open-Air Markets – don’t miss the famous Monday Antique Market at Cours Saleya, and great shopping for Italian wares at the sprawling Friday Market in Ventimiglia, even in winter!
- Nice by Nite – concerts, jazz clubs, salsa and tango venues, pub quiz nights, English-language theater and movie venues…
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