In revealing the results of a year still marked by Covid, the Grimaldi Forum’s General Director Sylvie Biancheri has presented an exciting schedule of events for Monaco’s largest culture and congress centre in 2023.
In front of 500 guests gathered for the annual Galette des Rois celebration in the entrance hall of the Grimaldi Forum Monaco on Tuesday evening, General Director Sylvie Biancheri presented the results of a “good, but not great” 2022 year, which was still notably impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The culture and congress centre hosted more than 100 events, compared to 82 in 2021, and noted the return of international clients and visitors. Some of its best performing events were Luxe Pack, which drew 9,500 visitors, an increase of 9% on the exceptional year of 2019, while Les Assises saw 3,000 participants and 9,400 B2B meetings.
According to Grimaldi Forum Chairman Henri Fissore, “2022 was overall very satisfactory and 2023 looks to be heading in the same direction, although we are never safe from a relapse,” he cautioned.
To return to the GF’s most successful years of 2018-2019, the Grimaldi Forum is aiming to reach 120 events this year. “We are not sure we will get there, but we’re working hard on it,” said Sylvie Biancheri. “Remote conferences will never replace face-to-face events.”
The main congresses this year include MAGIC in February, the Salon du Livre in April, Top Marques in June and the Festival de Television de Monte-Carlo also in June.
Humour features heavily on the GF’s 2023 schedule, with many French comedians taking to the stage, including Paul Mirabel who is first up this week with his sold-out performance. Others include Olivier de Benoist, Jérémy Ferrari, Baptiste Lecaplain, and Roman Frayssinet.
Thursday Live Sessions will continue with live music performances as well as a show by French singer Véronique Poupaud.
But the highlight of the year is the summer exhibition, which in 2023 is titled ‘Monet: In Full Light’. After the very unique Christian Louboutin: L’exhibition(iste) in 2022 featuring the extraordinary designs and wild imagination of the famous shoe designer Christian Louboutin, ‘Monet: In Full Light’ marks a return to the Masters for the Grimaldi Forum.
In looking ahead at the exciting expansion of the Grimaldi Forum as part of the new Maraterra district, Sylvie Biancheri also revealed that the marketing of the Grimaldi Forum’s new spaces has begun, for events to commence in 2025. The extpansion, mostly underground, is part of the new Mareterra district under development and will add an extra 50% exhibition space, equivalent to 6,000 sqm, which guests on Tuesday evening were able to experience in 3D.
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Photo credit: C Vinaj for the Grimaldi Forum