“Bringing people into town on Sunday”: did the magic of Christmas work with the parade in Nice?

Ho it’s Santa Claus! He said hello to me! » exclaims excited Gabriel, 4 years old. “Look there are the elves on their float”says Léa, 8 years old, to her brother Morgan, 5 years old. The big Christmas parade marched along Avenue Jean-Médecin to Place Masséna, Sunday December 8, 2024 at the end of the afternoon to the rhythm of the Santa Claus fanfare. Dancers, musicians and acrobats animated this parade which attracted between 15,000 and 20,000 people. “It’s a real success. We’re part of the tradition of the parade, the carnival. It’s now a winter event since we’re in the fourth edition”underlines Patrick Nolier, president of Nice Shopping ⁽¹⁾ and director of the Nicetoile shopping center.

“The objective is to bring people into town on Sunday and bring customers into the shops. Because on Saturday, there are already a lot of people in the streets and in the shops. In addition, yesterday, there was a match at the Allianz Riviera We cannot have several big events at the same time for the sake of mobilizing the police.explains Patrick Nolier.

“People come more for the parade”

So what do the avenue’s traders think? “People come more for the parade than to go shopping. We were down 10% compared to last year on the same day. They are not in a shopping mindset. It’s a family Sunday “They walk around, eat sweets and go to the Christmas market.”says Sophie Hélary, director of Bouchara. “It’s worse than usual”says the Bemon store manager. “There are a lot of people, but look at them, they don’t have shopping bags in their hands. I must be 20% off”declares the manager of Tamaris.

For Pierre Nirascou, head of Hamov, master ice cream maker, “It’s a huge success. We’ve reached +50%.”

More “the essential is not theresays Valérie Piccioloni, manager of the Abysse costume jewelry boutique. Today I made -30% compared to last year. The parade gives a festive atmosphere to the streets and that’s what counts. The parade should even be brought closer to the Christmas holidays. Because now the holidays are played in the last week just before the 25th.” The director of Bouchara positive: “With the parade on Sunday, what’s good is that customers discover that we’re open on Sunday. And that’s beneficial for us if we plan in the longer term.”

1. Nice Shopping is responsible for promoting the city’s 8,000 businesses.