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Month: September 2026

Monaco Yacht Show opens with new premieres and a €2bn residential giant

by: Cassandra Tanti
23/09/2026

The 35th Monaco Yacht Show opened in Port Hercule on Wednesday, its first day given over to a steady round of press conferences and world premieres as the industry gathered for the start of the four-day event. The show, which runs until Saturday 26th September, has brought around 120 superyachts to the port, among them 43 launched this year.

Shipyards used the opening day to introduce their latest boats to the press. Poland’s Sunreef Yachts gave the world premiere of the first Sunreef 100 Eco, a fully electric sailing catamaran named Ipharra II. The roughly 29-metre multihull pairs solar panels built into its structure with an electric drivetrain, and was shown alongside the shipyard’s 100 Sunreef Power at berth H27, part of a growing number of large catamarans at this year’s show.

Turkish builder Sirena Superyachts also unveiled a new model, staging the world debut of its 42M — the yard’s step up into full superyacht size — at the Jules Soccal quay.

Away from the water, the Monaco residential yacht project Ulyssia used the show to mark the official order of its 323-metre vessel. Founder and chairman Frank Binder and lead architect Espen Øino presented the milestone at Binder’s private Monaco residence, confirming that the ship — with 122 private residences and 22 guest suites — will be built by China Merchants Cruise Shipbuilding, chosen over Germany’s Meyer Werft, the partner named when the project was presented at last year’s show. Construction is due to begin this autumn, with a maiden voyage from Monaco planned for 2031.

Leviathan. Photo credit: Cassandra Tanti

Those launches formed part of a busy programme of debuts. Organisers counted 43 world premieres across the fleet, all delivered in 2026, at a time when order books at the leading yards stretch years ahead. Other premieres included Italy’s Baglietto, with its 50-metre Fast50 and 60-metre T60, GX Superyachts’ first GX42 and Tankoa’s 45-metre Singolare, while the largest yacht at the show is Oceanco’s 111-metre Leviathan and the biggest debut Lürssen’s 102-metre Nixie. The show continues until Saturday 26th September.

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Main photo credit: Cassandra Tanti

Monaco’s Fête de la Science returns for fifth edition

by: Kayla Sauceda
23/09/2026

The scientific community of Monaco will come together later this month as the Fête de la Science returns to the Principality for its fifth edition, offering the public an opportunity to discover topics ranging from marine biology and archaeology to medicine and environmental research.

The event will take place on Wednesday 30th September from 2pm to 6pm at Espace Léo Ferré, offering free entry and activities designed for both children and adults.

SCIENCE BROUGHT TO LIFE

Rather than simply presenting work taking place across Monaco’s scientific institutions, the afternoon will give visitors the chance to get involved through live experiments, demonstrations, quizzes, educational games, and hands-on activities.

Among the institutions taking part will be the Centre Scientifique de Monaco (CSM), with researchers from its marine, medical, and polar biology departments sharing their work directly with the public.

Visitors will have the chance to observe corals under a microscope and explore their anatomy with 3D models, while sea anemones will be used to demonstrate concepts surrounding the human immune system. The CSM’s polar biology team will also introduce its research on penguins and Antarctic ecosystems.

The Spéléo Club de Monaco will introduce visitors to the world of caving and the geology, biology, and archaeology connected to it.

FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN TO HUMAN HEALTH

With Monaco’s Mediterranean connection, marine science and conservation will play a major role throughout the event.

The Oceanographic Institute will present an activity linked to its Méditerranée 2050 programme, exploring the region’s biodiversity and ecosystems alongside pressures from pollution, climate change, and overfishing. Visitors will also be encouraged to consider, with this information in mind, what the Mediterranean could look like by 2050 and how it must be protected.

Additional participants will bring research covering cetacean conservation, marine pollution, protected areas, and climate change, while the full programme will extend beyond the sea.

SCIENCE BEYOND THE SEA

The Centre Hospitalier Princesse Grace (CHPG), where more than 50 clinical research projects are currently taking place, will highlight the role of research in the development of new medicines, medical devices, diagnostic methods, and treatments.

Meanwhile, Monaco’s prehistoric and natural heritage will also be showcased through the Musée d’Anthropologie Préhistorique and Jardin Exotique, whose Botanical Centre houses more than 10,000 cacti and succulents, around 85% of which are protected species, while conducting research on plant reproduction, growth, and conservation.

Bringing together institutions, associations and researchers from across the Principality and beyond, the Fête de la Science aims to make scientific research accessible beyond laboratories and institutions, giving the public the chance to observe, experiment and interact directly with those behind the work.

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Photo credit: Government Communications Department / Manuel Vitali

Inside the Broadway spectacle bringing Shrek to Monaco

by: Cassandra Tanti
23/09/2026

A newly released teaser is offering audiences a closer look at the costumes, scenery and musical performances behind Shrek The Musical, which arrives at the Grimaldi Forum Monaco for four shows this December.

While the production retains the familiar characters and irreverent humour of the DreamWorks film, the stage adaptation is far more than a live recreation of the animated original. It introduces an original score, large ensemble numbers and theatrical transformations designed specifically for a live audience.

At its centre is the unlikely partnership between Shrek and Donkey, alongside Princess Fiona, Lord Farquaad and the displaced fairytale characters who find themselves in Shrek’s swamp.

A Broadway musical in its own right

The musical features music by Jeanine Tesori, the composer behind Kimberly Akimbo, Caroline, or Change and Fun Home, with its book and lyrics written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire.

First staged on Broadway in 2008, the production went on to receive multiple major theatre nominations and a Tony Award. Its appeal lies partly in the way it expands the film’s themes of friendship, exclusion and self-acceptance while maintaining its humour for both children and adults.

The Monaco production will be performed in English with French surtitles, making it accessible to both Anglophone and Francophone audiences.

Four performances in Monaco

Shrek The Musical will be presented in the Salle des Princes at 7.30pm on Friday 11th December; at 2.30pm and 7.30pm on Saturday 12th December; and at 2.30pm on Sunday 13th December.

The performance lasts approximately two hours, with a 20-minute interval. Tickets start at €47 and are available through the Grimaldi Forum Monaco.

The newly released teaser can also be viewed through the Grimaldi Forum’s event page.

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Spanish painter’s Hockney-inspired pools go on show in Monaco

by: Cassandra Tanti
23/09/2026

Opera Gallery Monaco has opened the first major Monaco show by Spanish painter Xevi Solà, a set of swimming-pool paintings that borrow their subject from David Hockney. The exhibition, Thoughts of a Bigger Splash, runs until 15th October — its title a play on Hockney’s 1967 painting A Bigger Splash, three months after the British artist died in June aged 88.

Solà takes the pool that Hockney made a symbol of sunlit 1960s California and drains the glamour out of it. His pools are quieter and more unsettling, filled with tall, models-like figures who stare blankly past one another, gathering and drifting apart without ever connecting. He has said he draws on fashion photography, film stills and mugshots, working in bright, flat colour.

The show gathers works all painted this year, among them a diptych, Coupe du Monde, showing figures ranged around a pool; Rendez-vous and Sunrise, two pairs of figures set against a twilight sky and the sea; and Vestiaires, which moves away from the water but keeps the same mood.

Photo credit: Philippe Fitte

“We’re honoured to present Xevi Solà’s first major exhibition here in Monaco,” said Federica Beretta, Global Director of Opera Gallery. “His approach places him within a broader lineage of contemporary figurative painting, while his distinctive use of colour, composition and cinematic framing establishes a visual language entirely his own.”

Solà, 57, was born in Santa Coloma de Farners in Catalonia and lives and works in Girona. He has exhibited across Europe, the United States and Asia, and has been represented by Opera Gallery since 2025, a year after his first show with the gallery in Geneva.

Thoughts of a Bigger Splash is at Opera Gallery Monaco, at the Palais de la Scala on avenue Henri Dunant, until 15th October, open Monday to Saturday.

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Main photo credit: Philippe Fitte

Women of Monaco Lunch to return with red theme this October

by: Cassandra Tanti
23/09/2026

The Women of Monaco Lunch will return to the Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo on Thursday 8th October, bringing together women from across the Principality for an afternoon of fashion, conversation and fundraising.

Now in its 16th edition, the event will adopt a red theme, with guests invited to incorporate a touch of the colour into their outfits. The lunch will once again raise funds for the Princess Grace Foundation, continuing the charitable focus of the organisation’s annual October and March gatherings.

Created by Five Stars Events founder Sandrine Knoell, the lunch has grown alongside the Women of Monaco Club, an invitation-led community bringing together women of different ages, nationalities and professional backgrounds.

A community without traditional barriers

For Sandrine Knoell, the strength of the club lies in the diversity of its membership. English is used as its principal language, allowing women from Monaco’s international community to participate without nationality or language becoming a barrier.

The membership includes business leaders, mothers, philanthropists and women establishing new lives in the Principality.

Knoell said the club was deliberately created without distinctions based on age, profession, culture, politics or religion.

“We genuinely reflect everyone,” she said. “If one woman has a question or needs help, there is always someone stronger in that area who can support her.”

She added that the club can be particularly valuable for women who have moved to Monaco because of their partner’s career and are looking to establish their own connections and identity locally.

Women of Monaco Lunch – theme green – in 2025. Photo source: Five Stars Events

Fashion, finance and beauty

October’s lunch will take place at noon in the Salon Méditerranée, a location Knoell said has become an important part of the event’s identity.

“We love having it in the same place and with the same team,” she said. “The Métropole is one of the best places in Monaco for these lunches.”

The programme will include discussions relating to finance and beauty, alongside a fashion presentation by designer Irina Marchuk. Her haute couture collection features individually created pieces using premium fabrics and materials.

Cool Bay Monaco will create the makeup looks for the models, while guests will also be introduced to Anthésté, a collection of waterless botanical elixirs drawing on Greek and Mediterranean influences.

Barclays Private Bank will continue its support of Women of Monaco and will be represented at the lunch by members of its Monaco team.

From left to right: Princess Camilla of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Princess Caroline of Hanover, Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and Sandrine Knoell.

Supporting the Princess Grace Foundation

Proceeds will benefit the Princess Grace Foundation, which was established in 1964 and supports humanitarian initiatives for children as well as students pursuing cultural projects.

For Knoell, however, the lunch is intended to offer more than a social or fundraising occasion. Its purpose is to strengthen connections among women who might otherwise have few opportunities to meet beyond their existing professional or personal circles.

“What makes me happy is the community we have created and the women it has brought together,” she said.

The Women of Monaco Lunch Red will take place at 12pm on Thursday 8th October at the Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo. Reservations can be made through Five Stars Events.

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Photos provided

Pink Ribbon Monaco to unite sport and gala for annual health campaign

by: Virginia D’Umas
23/09/2026

Monaco will turn pink next month as Pink Ribbon Monaco is set to host its sixteenth annual awareness campaign dedicated to breast and gynaecological health. Held under the high patronage of Princess Charlene, the two-day programme on 2nd and 3rd October combines sport, philanthropy, and community action to support local medical initiatives.

The initiative will open with an exclusive reception hosted at the Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo, setting a formal tone for a weekend centred on health awareness. The programme will expand with the inaugural Monaco Invitational golf tournament at the Royal Mougins Golf Club, directed by musician and golfer Cameron Avery.

“For more than fifteen years, Pink Ribbon Monaco has worked to place prevention at the heart of women’s health—promoting education, healthier lifestyles, physical activity and the importance of screening and early detection. Our aim is to give women, their daughters and future generations the knowledge and tools to reduce their risk and act early,” said Natasha Frost-Savio, Founder and President, Pink Ribbon Monaco

Photo Credit: Pink Ribbon Monaco

Illuminating the Principality

As evening falls, Casino Square will become the focal point of the campaign’s renowned illuminations. Twenty-four institutions across the Principality will light their façades in pink, creating a unified visual message in support of research and community vigilance.

Philanthropy at the Hôtel de Paris

Following the illumination ceremony, supporters will gather at the Salle Empire and terrace of the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo for a black-tie gala. The evening will feature a live auction conducted by New York-based auctioneer C.K. Swett, with lots including a custom cocktail creation at the legendary Bar Américain.

A legacy of local action

Funds raised throughout the weekend directly support Pink Ribbon Monaco’s ongoing educational programmes, early screening initiatives, and specialised research into lobular breast cancer in partnership with the Princess Grace Hospital Centre.

Founded in 2011 by Natasha Frost-Savio, the independent Monegasque association has spent a decade and a half turning public awareness into tangible local action for women’s health. 

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Photo Credit: Pink Ribbon Monaco