Cannes Travel Guide - Festivals & Events
February Festivals
The International Festival of Games: is the most significant annual meeting of the amateurs, professionals and champions in the world of games, where participants confront one another in international tournaments and have the chance to discover the latest innovations on the market.
The International Festival of Games: is the most significant annual meeting of the amateurs, professionals and champions in the world of games, where participants confront one another in international tournaments and have the chance to discover the latest innovations on the market.
Tournaments and demonstrations are held, involving every imaginable great classic game, as well as a variety of new ones: backgammon, belote, bridge, chess, draughts, rummy and tarot; word games and games that have been long forgotten; exotic games from other parts of the world such as awale, go, mah-jong, shogi and sudoku; role-playing and war games; and the many challenges on consoles and PCs.
March Festivals
Carnival on the Riviera: is an annual affair that involves 21 days of street festivities culminating in a parade through the city on Shrove Tuesday. Spectacular torchlight processions, along with glamorous masked balls, are among the many highlights of the three weeks of festivities that are held in February or March, depending on the Christian calendar.
Carnival on the Riviera: is an annual affair that involves 21 days of street festivities culminating in a parade through the city on Shrove Tuesday. Spectacular torchlight processions, along with glamorous masked balls, are among the many highlights of the three weeks of festivities that are held in February or March, depending on the Christian calendar.
May Festivals
Cannes International Film Festival: is a two-week annual event in May that sees the city being overtaken by major Hollywood actors and directors, as well a large number of independent film makers. The first festival was held here in 1946 and was slow to catch on, but after various changes to its structure in the early years, it became the world's leading festival and has remained so to this day.
Cannes International Film Festival: is a two-week annual event in May that sees the city being overtaken by major Hollywood actors and directors, as well a large number of independent film makers. The first festival was held here in 1946 and was slow to catch on, but after various changes to its structure in the early years, it became the world's leading festival and has remained so to this day.
In addition to the main competition, there is a fiercely competitive short film competition and the Un Certain Regard competition, focused on high-quality features not considered suitable for the main competition, but worthy of recognition.
June Festivals
The International Actors’ Performance Festival: is held in June, with small venues used for staging humorous sketches, where patrons can also enjoy a drink. Many productions alternate between the Espace Miramar and the smaller Alexandre III theatre. Actors, who are in training at the prestigious theatre school, ERAC (Cannes’ Regional Actors’ School), perform during the festival.
The International Actors’ Performance Festival: is held in June, with small venues used for staging humorous sketches, where patrons can also enjoy a drink. Many productions alternate between the Espace Miramar and the smaller Alexandre III theatre. Actors, who are in training at the prestigious theatre school, ERAC (Cannes’ Regional Actors’ School), perform during the festival.
Participants send fireworks shooting up from the sea, out of barges moored in the bay at Cannes, with a musical background and a story illustrating the event’s major theme. The competition is judged, and occurs over selected dates in July and August.
September Festivals
Festival de la Plaisance (Cannes International Boat and Yacht Show): is an event for boating enthusiasts, held in Vieux Port, at which all manner of recreational boats and yachts are showcased by their manufacturers.
Festival de la Plaisance (Cannes International Boat and Yacht Show): is an event for boating enthusiasts, held in Vieux Port, at which all manner of recreational boats and yachts are showcased by their manufacturers.
December Festivals
International Dance Festival: is an annual event held in December that has been running since 1984. It continues to be one of the major choreographic events in France.
International Dance Festival: is an annual event held in December that has been running since 1984. It continues to be one of the major choreographic events in France.
Directed by Yorgos Loukos, the creative director of the Lyons National Opera Ballet, the festival features five or six new dance creations each year, including French premieres and a variety of new works by celebrities in the world of dance. In its more than 20 years of history, the festival has featured more than 150 companies.