Hollywood and Monegasque royalty mingle at TV Festival

Honorary President Prince Albert II of Monaco has officially opened the 59th Monte-Carlo Television Festival in front of a star-studded, capacity audience at the Grimaldi Forum. Following a glamorous Red Carpet featuring a glittering line-up of acting and creative talent from around the world, the Golden Nymph fiction and news juries were presented on stage.

Prince Albert officially opened the 59th Monte Carlo Television Festival on Friday 14th June. Photo: Monaco Life, all rights reserved

This year’s fiction jury includes Ricky Whittle (Jury President), Pedro Alonso, Anne Kolbjornsen, Gisella Marengo, Gideon Raff and Ola Rapace, and the news jury is comprised of Rory Kennedy (Jury President), John Irvine, Ghislaine Ottenheimer, Paul Refsdal, Luca Rosini and Masaru Zenke.

In celebration of what is today’s golden age of global television, the 59th Opening Ceremony concluded with the French Premiere screening of the first episode of L.A.’s Finest, in the presence of actresses and executive producers Gabrielle Union (Bad Boys II), who plays Sydney Burnett and Jessica Alba (Sin City), who plays Nancy McKenna.

“Boundless is probably an accurate way to describe today’s increase of exceptional programs being created worldwide,” Prince Albert told the audience in his opening speech. “From remarkable series to thought-provoking documentaries and insightful news reports from remote territories, each one set to educate, enlighten and to entertain us.”

“The gap between television and cinema is definitely closing in these exciting times in the global content business and the Festival’s outstanding line-up of talent certainly reflects this,” added Laurent Puons, CEO of the Monte-Carlo Television Festival. “We are so thrilled to have secured the French Premiere of L.A.’s Finest produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Television and 2.0 Entertainment in association with Sony Pictures Television, and I am delighted to welcome the series’ stars, Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba to Monte-Carlo.”

In presenting the French premier of their action series, Alba said: “You typically don’t get to see two women as stars of this genre – usually you get to see men – and the women typically service the male story but in ours the story revolves around us, and I think it’s refreshing and it’s different and it’s cool,” a statement that was greeted  by warm applause from the Monégasque audience.

Meanwhile, Union said she greatly enjoyed the series’ action scenes. “We have a blast. Being able to kick butt, be funny, be sexy, be mysterious… they usually reserve that just for men but, listen, when you don’t service literally half of the population of the world you do yourself a disservice. Not only are you a bad person, you are a bad businessperson. So we are here to be amazing actors, great business-women and equal opportunities entertainers.”

Other celebrities attending the ceremony included Ricky Whittle, star of American Gods, Lindsey Morgan and Richard Harmon, the stars of The 100, Instinct star Alan Cumming, and Sharon Case, Amelia Heinle and Camryn Grimes from The Young and the Restless.

The Monte-Carlo Television Festival has established itself as one of the industry’s foremost events, bringing together the biggest names in television. This year, for the 59th edition, a brand new initiative reserved exclusively to TV industry professionals has been launched, the ‘Pass Pro’ to promote and optimise contacts during the event, making the most of the possibilities offered by the Festival.

Splash Party this Wednesday

The hugely popular Splash Party is back for a fourth edition and it will take place this Wednesday 19th June, marking the approach of the summer holidays.

From 2pm to 6pm, young people aged from 12 to 17 years, in school or residing in Monaco,   will be able to enjoy the swimming pool of the Rainier III Nautical Stadium with giant inflatable structures, musical atmosphere with DJ, babyfoots and other games. There will also be unlimited nono-acloholic which is included in the price of entry.

The concept of the Splash Party was actually derived from the students themselves and it has been a real success. So let’s celebrate the approach of summer and the end of classes with friends and water games!

The price is 20€ for students and residents in the Principality, and 25€ for an accompanying person from outside of Monaco.

The Welcome Office meets new and future residents

The Welcome Office has hosted an information session for people who have moved or are relocating to Monaco as part of its quarterly service. It is an opportunity for guests to discover firsthand the different aspects of life in the Principality.

© – Direction de la Communication – Manu Vitali

The information people receive is imperative – how to settle into life in Monaco, what the essential entities/organisations to know, what the administrative procedures of daily life are related to education and health for example, the various means of transport, the major projects of the Principality and many other valuable topics.

The meetings are held at the Club des Residents Etrangers de Monaco (CREM), a historic partner of the event, in a comfortable and elegant setting.

In addition, the Welcome Office, which has been in charge of welcoming newcomers, entrepreneurs and investors for nine years now, regularly receives people looking for key contacts, practical information on Monaco or on activity creation.

‘Flowers for the bees’ at the Princess Antoinette Park

As part of the ‘Flowers for Bees 2019’ campaign, the French Observatory of Apidology will be hosting a special event at the Princess Antoinette Park on Wednesday 19th June at 3.30pm.

Children are invited to head to the Zen section of the park, where there will be a presentation on nectar dispensing plants which are essential for the feeding of bees. The beekeeper will be offering his honey for sale.

The aim of the day is to raise awareness among children of the importance of bee conservation. Admission is free and the presentation will take around one hour.

The French Observatory of Apidology (OFA) is a non-profit association located in the Var at Sainte-Baume. It is charged with the safeguarding of bees and includes an experimental beekeeping herd, a research centre and a vocational training center.

The EU has encouraged the creation of up to 30,000 new beekeepers in Europe and the creation of 10 million new bee colonies by 2025.

New at the Princess Antoinette Park in 2019:

The park this year boasts a new barn made by the park’s gardeners from some of the decorations recovered from the 2018 Christmas Village; a new hutch for rabbits again thanks to the talent of handymen and gardeners; two brand new composters accessible to individuals during park opening hours; and a completely renovated mini-golf. The park is non-smoking.

More info: www.flowersforbees.com and www.ofapidologie.org

777 medals awarded during Sports Festival

The awards ceremony season is officially underway, and it was a festive atmosphere on Wednesday 12th June in the Court of Honour of the Monaco City Hall for the traditional Sports Festival.

A host of delegates including David Tomatis, Counselor at the Prince’s Cabinet, Mayor Georges Marsan and Jacques Pastor, Deputy Mayor of the Sports and Associations, congratulated the presidents, leaders, coaches and sports men and women of the Principality’s sports associations and federations who had gathered for the occasion.

A total of 35 disciplines were represented and 777 medals were awarded during the ceremony – 89 gold, 114 silver, 173 bronze, and 401 medals of distinction.

Photo: courtesy Mairie de Monaco

Each year, the Sports Festival is a highly anticipated event for all sports members, young and old, whose excellent results during the past season are rewarded.

Three other awards ceremonies are scheduled in the City Hall’s Cour d’Honneur this month: the Monegasque Language Contest on Monday 17th June, the School of Fine Arts – Pavillon Bosio Wednesday 26th and the Rainier III Academy on Thursday 27th.