INTERNATIONAL: Nice Carnival is one of the most important events in France and one of the most famous the world over. It takes place every year during the month of February and is one of the most popular events on the French Riviera, attracting each year hundreds of thousands of spectators.

The Nice Carnival is set to take place again this year in the southern French city under the theme "King of the animals", after the 2021 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year’s 2022 Nice Carnival will begin on Saturday, February 12 and ends on Sunday, February 27.

The earliest records establish the Nice Carnival’s existence in 1294 when the Count of Provence, Charles Anjou, wrote that he had passed "the joyous days of carnival." This may make the Nice Carnival the original carnival celebration.

In 1873, a committee was created for the Carnival, headed by local artist Alexis Mossa, with later contributions from his son Gustav-Adolf Mossa. The Carnival was reinvented into a parade,adding masquerades, satirical floats and competitions.

Each year, a special theme is chosen, and artists create 18 floats and other figurines in traditional papier-mâché for the colorful parade. The parades take place day and night, while on the Promenade des Anglais, "flower battles" occur.

Craftsmen were putting the finishing touches to the floats depicting an array of beasts from a roaring gorilla to a giant praying mantis bearing the symbol of the female gender on its forehead.

This year's notable addition is a special float featuring some of the main candidates for the April 2022 presidential election, along with President Emmanuel Macron who is expected to run but yet has to announce his candidacy.

The Nice Carnival is one of the world's major carnival events, alongside the Brazilian Carnival, Venetian Carnival, and Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It is held annually in February and sometimes early March in Nice on the French Riviera.

Until a series of health restrictions were lifted on February 2, the number of attendees had been limited to 5,000 seated people but organisers now expect to welcome an additional 7,000 standing spectators.

Every year, the carnival attracts more than 200,000 spectators with its parade and annual "battle of the flowers" -- where blooms are thrown at the public from the floats. The event has been a fixture of the city on the French Riviera for almost 150 years.