The suspense has ended. The 2023 edition of the carnival of Nantes will not start Sunday as planned, announced this Wednesday the city of Nantes. The first two parades, that of Sunday, April 2 (day parade) and that of April 8 (children's carnival) are canceled due to the sensitive social context related to the protest against the pension reform. The difficulties of securing the event and the presence of a lot of garbage not collected on the Parcous are mentioned.

"We are studying with the carnival lovers the conditions of a postponement," says the city of Nantes. The third parade, that of Saturday, April 15 (at night), is, for the moment, not affected by a cancellation, but it remains uncertain. Last weekend, the big sale of Nantes had already been canceled due to the social context.

European Carnival Capital

This is not the first time that the carnival has been forced to postpone. In 2016 and 2018, parades were postponed due to demonstrations (Labour Act and Notre-Dame-des-Landes). In 2020 and 2021, the event was cancelled due to the health crisis. Same situation in 2011 due to the financial difficulties of the festival committee.



Recently inscribed on the national intangible heritage, the carnival of Nantes is composed of thematic floats, big heads, dancers and musicians. It attracts an average of 50,000 spectators for its day parade (opening) and as much for its night parade (closing). The 2023 edition promised to be special as Nantes was named European Carnival Capital for this year.

  • Nantes
  • Pays de la Loire
  • Carnival
  • Pension reform 2023