Mandelieu-La Napoule, at the gates of the Var and next to Cannes is located between the both massif of the Esterel and Tanneron where the mimosa forest stretches out as far as we can see. Earth of Mimosa, Mandelieu-La Napoule that seduced the Russian and English aristocracy at the end of the 19 th century is now a tourist seaside resort with a lot of richness.

First golf destination of the French Riviera, the town has two Golf Courses including the oldest of the Riviera created in 1891 by the Tsar nephew.

The Mimosa, our winter sun.

Since many decades, Mandelieu-La Napoule lives at the rate of the mimosa blooming, in love with its yellow clusters that were born in Australia and were introduced in the middle of the 19th century in the Esterel and Tanneron massif. Every winter, in January, February, the nature wakes up to offer a landscape with captivating scent. As a joke to winter, the hills and gardens light up with gold and spread an unforgettable perfume when the mimosa is blooming.

That flowering period symbolizing the sun in winter is celebrated every year in February by a festival rich in tradition and local folklore which warms up the hearts and the eyes .

The Mimosa saga

It took extremely well to local conditions and very soon, horticulturists and gardeners realised that there was money to be made from Mimosa. They harvested it in bouquets to sell as cut flowers.

It took extremely well to local conditions and very soon, horticulturists and gardeners realised that there was money to be made from Mimosa. They harvested it in bouquets to sell as cut flowers.

Season after season the number of mimosa growers multiplied beyond belief. Mandelieu turned its back on jasmine and fruit trees in favour of cultivating Mimosa. Markets developed and wagon loads of mimosa set out from Cannes and La Napoule railway stations each day on their way to the north of France and foreign lands.

Fashions changed and new flowers from all over the globe arrived on the market. The mimosa's short life was a handicap until the discovery of Chrysal powder in 1967 - it revolutionised the profession and extended the life of a mimosa bloom to 8 days.

Coming back from school, a little girl gathered a bouquet of mimosa not opened for her mother. Not to distress her, she put the bouquet in a vase and placed it in the laundry. The day after, she had the good surprise to find it totally opened.

A gardener from Cannes La Bocca had raked all the cut branches of a mimosa tree and put them on a dunghill. The day after, thanks to the night dampness and to the hotness of the dung, the mimosa was opened.

13 February 1929 saw the first catastrophe in the history of mimosa: temperatures of -9°C . The trees froze. It took two years to get production back on the road. To celebrate, Mandelieu organised the first Mimosa Festival on 16 February 1931, chaired by its mayor, Monsieur Gandolphe. Half of the profits were donated to the poor of Cannes and Mandelieu. Because of its history, mimosa has become the symbol of the commune of Mandelieu-La Napoule today. Thanks to its co-operative organisation, it remains one of the rare towns to cultivate and market cut mimosa. The inhabitants, during the mimosa festival, decorate voluntary the floats the night before the festival.