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Month: March 2026

Monaco to go zero waste for the fifth edition of MonaCollecte

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
04/03/2026

MonaCollecte, the Principality’s popular recycling and reuse drive, returns for its fifth edition from 6th to 7th March. 

Organised by the Prince’s Governments and the Société Monégasque d’Assainissement,  this year’s event centres on the theme of ‘Zero Waste’ and takes place at the Chapiteau de Fontvieille.

MonaCollecte’s purpose is to bring together residents willing to embrace greener habbits through a mix of collections, hands-on workshops and awareness activities.

A workshop for every interest

Visitors can choose from an impressive range of activities across the two days. Aspiring chefs can discover zero-waste cooking through creative recipes designed to cut food waste, while those with a crafty streak can try making their own reusable bread bags, homemade cosmetics, or plant pots from empty containers.

There is also a workshop turning advertising banners into pouches, another creating art from reclaimed cables and computer parts, and one where participants build a small object from scratch using recycled plastic.

For families, a VR workshop offers an immersive experience inside a sorting centre to learn how to recycle correctly, and an outdoor circuit lets younger children sort waste while riding tricycles and scooters. A drawing competition on the zero-waste theme will also take place.

Ocean pollution is also set to take centre stage during the event. In one of the workshops, participants will be able to rescue mârché sea creatures trapped in symbolic waste.

La Mairie’s stand

La Mairie will host two days of activities. On Friday, the Médiathèque Caroline will run a workshop making bookmarks from reclaimed fabric scraps aimed primarily at schoolchildren from 9am, before opening to the wider public until 5pm.

Then, on Saturday, the focus shifts to repair. In partnership with the Repair Café de Nice association, the Mùnegu Repair Café will be on hand from 10am to 6pm to fix everyday portable object brought in by visitors.

Alongside this, the Médiathèque Caroline will display its collection of zero-waste resources, run a second round of the bookmark workshop, and invite people to donate clean, good-condition tote bags to stock its fabric bag lending library.

The event runs from 10am to 7pm on both days with free entry.

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Main photo credit: Société Monégasque d’Assainissement

Italian fashion brand Twinset to show at Monte-Carlo Fashion Week

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
04/03/2026

Italian womenswear brand Twinset has confirmed it will present a new collection at Monte-Carlo Fashion Week, choosing Monaco as the setting for what the company describes as a new direction for the brand. 

The show is scheduled to take place on the final day of the event, 18th April, in the Grande Verrière space of the Grimaldi Forum.

Twinset will present a Ready-to-Buy selection aimed at the Côte d’Azur market, followed by a final of evening dresses. The brand, which earlier this year showed alongside Vogue Café during Milan Fashion Week, has been working to raise its international profile under chief executive Gabriele Maggio.

“Twinset possesses a distinctive creative heritage and extraordinary potential,” said Maggio. “We are shaping a solid and visionary development path, aimed at further consolidating the brand’s prestige on the international scene.”

The company was founded in Italy in 1987 and is known for its accessible luxury positioning, with a focus on knitwear and ready-to-wear.

Federica Nardoni Spinetta, President and Founder of the Chambre Monégasque de la Mode, said the Principality offered designers a credible platform for global exposure. “Monte-Carlo Fashion Week today embodies a spirit of profound renewal,” she said, “confirming its contemporary, dynamic, and global presence.”

About Monte-Carlo Fashion Week

Monte-Carlo Fashion Week has in recent years sought to position itself as a complement to the major fashion capitals, attracting international labels looking for an upscale setting outside the traditional Paris-Milan-London circuit. Every year the event draws buyers and press from across Europe and beyond.

This year’s edition will run from 14th to 18th of April.

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Main photo of Federica Nardoni credit: Gabriele Rigon

Interview: Photographer Franck Solimeis brings Japan to Monaco

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
04/03/2026

Le Méridien Beach Plaza has opened a unique photography exhibition called ‘Japan Highlights’, by self taught Monégasque photographer Franck Solimeis. Running until June 15th, it forms part of the hotel’s ongoing cultural programme. 

The show capture’s Japan contradiction, since it combines ancient tradition with relentless modernity. “There are villages where a samurai might appear and you wouldn’t even be surprised,” Solimeis tells Monaco Life. “And then there are cities where robots might serve you. That’s a huge contrast.”

Solimeis’ love affair with Japan was completely accidental. He first visited to see a close friend who had moved there, and found himself completely captivated, not just by the scenery, but by the social fabric. “They make small efforts that have enormous repercussions on their society,” he said. “For example, you don’t see cigarette butts on the ground. When you think about it, it makes complete sense.”

He has since returned three times.

One of his artworks, photo by Monaco Life.

Trains, temples, and long exposures

Among the works on show, his long exposure train photographs stand out. Taken over just a second or two, they capture light trails streaking through the frame — movement frozen in stillness.

“It’s a little experimental. You never quite know what result you’ll get,” he says.

However, the subject choice was deliberate: Japan’s railway culture is as iconic as its temples.

The train photograph, photo by Monaco Life.

In contrast to this modern approach, Solimeis has also photographed temples, capturing the unique silence that surrounds them.

Even on crowded days, visitors, locals and tourists alike move through these spaces with such respect that the calm never shifts or wavers.

The temple photograph, photo by Monaco Life.

The one thing, though, that sets his photographic style apart, is the respect he has when depicting Japan’s culture. It’s a photograph of a geisha, taken from behind, that truly transmits this message.

Uncomfortable with the way tourists typically crowd around geishas for close-up shots, he chose a different approach. “I never saw her face, and she never saw me. It’s a tribute to the beauty of how she’s dressed — the clothes, the make-up, the headdress. And a tribute to women, of course.”

The geisha photograph, photo by Monaco Life.

The exhibition also includes one work by his sister, Carole Micallef, a graphic painting depicting a figure blending Tokyo street style and geisha tradition.

The exhibition was also developed in partnership with Nicolas Dotta of Prime Estate Monaco.

Next stop: New York

For Solimeis, the exhibition is deeply personal. “I sometimes feel a pang of nostalgia here, missing certain places, certain dishes.” His next project, he hopes, will be New York. But Japan came first, and for good reason. “It’s truly my country of the heart.”

‘Japan Highlights’ runs at Le Méridien Hub until June 15th and with the opening reception taking place 10th March at 6pm.

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Main photo credit: Monaco Life

PokerStars becomes first gaming partner of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters

by: Cassandra Tanti
04/03/2026

The Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters has announced a partnership with PokerStars, marking the first time the tournament has signed an official agreement with a gaming brand.

The deal, announced on Wednesday 4th March, will see PokerStars named an Official Partner of the tournament, which takes place at the Monte-Carlo Country Club from 11th to 19th April. The collaboration is designed to offer fans new ways to engage with the event, with both parties citing shared values of strategy, composure and performance under pressure.

“We are delighted to welcome PokerStars as an Official Partner of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters,” said David Massey, Tournament Director. “Like tennis at the highest level, poker demands focus, composure and the ability to perform under pressure — values that resonate deeply with our tournament.”

For PokerStars, the partnership extends an existing relationship with Monaco. The brand has long hosted some of its most prominent live events in the Principality, including a flagship stop on the European Poker Tour. This year’s EPT Monte-Carlo runs from 30th April to 10th May — directly after the tennis tournament concludes — creating an unusual concentration of two high-profile competitive events in the same location within the space of a fortnight.

“Monte-Carlo has long been home to some of PokerStars’ most iconic live poker events, and this partnership allows us to connect that heritage with world-class tennis in a meaningful way,” said Enrico Rusi, Managing Director at PokerStars Italy. “We are reinforcing our long-term presence in the region and strengthening our connection with audiences across Southern Europe, where both tennis and poker enjoy deep roots and passionate communities.”

The Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters begins on 6th April with qualifying rounds, with the main draw getting under way on 11th April.

See also: 

Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters 2026: what was revealed at the official launch

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Polar science is advancing fast – but who’s paying for it?

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
04/03/2026

The science of the poles has never been more urgent. Ice sheets are shrinking, ocean currents are shifting, and researchers warn all of us that what happens in the Arctic and the Antarctic will impact life far beyond them. Yet for all the progress in understanding what is happening, there is a more awkward problem to address: money is running dangerously short. 

That was one of the most important challenges that emerged from this year’s Monaco Polar Symposium, held from 25th to 27th February at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco.

“Conservation efforts, scientific research, and innovation in the polar regions come at a cost but remain significantly underfunded,” said Romain Ciarlet, Vice-Chairman and CEO of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, in his opening address. The figure he put on it was shocking: today, only 10% of polar research funding comes from private and philanthropic sources. The rest falls almost entirely on governments — many of which are tightening their belts.

“We have to make sure that private and philanthropic actors step up,” Ciarlet said.

Turning science into action

This current funding model is no longer sustainable. For that reason, the three-day event dedicated an entire working session to developing what it called ‘innovative funding models’ for polar research.

Then, a second session focused on something equally important: how to actually turn scientific findings into action once the money is found. Knowing what is happening at the poles and being able to do something about it, delegates advocated, are two very different things.

To that end, Prince Albert II referenced the Foundation’s Polar Donor Roundtable, an initiative designed to bridge the gap between, and help structure what he called “a continuum from science to funding, and from funding to impact.”

Whether that ambition can be matched with the appropriate funds remains an open question – and one that will only become more pressing as the countdown to the next International Polar Year, due in 2032-22, gets underway.

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Main photo credit: Monaco Life

Verdi’s Il Trovatore comes to the Opéra de Monte-Carlo this March with a stellar international cast

by: Cassandra Tanti
04/03/2026

The Opéra de Monte-Carlo presents Verdi’s Il Trovatore across four performances this month, in a co-production with the Teatro Real de Madrid and the Royal Danish Opera that brings together some of the most celebrated voices in opera today.

Conducted by Giacomo Sagripanti and directed by Francisco Negrin, the production explores the full dramatic weight of Verdi’s score — a work built on thwarted passion, clashes of power and family tragedy, in which some of the most beloved arias in the operatic repertoire unfold against an unrelenting dramatic arc.

The cast is exceptional. South African soprano Pretty Yende, one of the most sought-after lyric voices of her generation, shares the role of Leonora with Alexandra Marcellier. Polish baritone Artur Ruciński takes on the Count of Luna, while Piero Pretti sings Manrico and Armenian mezzo-soprano Varduhi Abrahamyan brings her considerable dramatic presence to the role of Azucena. Evgeny Stavinsky and Annunziata Vestri complete the principal cast, supported by the Chorus and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo.

Il Trovatore is, by any measure, one of Verdi’s most demanding and rewarding works — a opera of extremes, in which the emotional stakes rarely drop and the music rarely relents. In the hands of this cast and this production team, it promises to be one of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo’s most significant evenings of the season.

Performances take place on Sunday 22nd March at 3pm, Tuesday 24th March at 8pm (Gala), Thursday 26th March at 8pm and Saturday 28th March at 8.30pm, at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.

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