The 45th International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo and the 10th New Generation Festival are back in 2023 with all the usual magic and a few surprises!
After two years of cancellations due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival is returning in January to celebrate its 45th edition, along with the 10th anniversary of the New Generation Festival, showcasing young, up-and-coming talent.
The organising committee, headed up by Princess Stephanie, has an exciting show lined up including a fusion of the two events, where numbers from the New Generation event will be integrated into the International Circus festival, giving guests a chance to see the best of the best in circus entertainment.
As ever, a jury will be on hand to select the bronze, silver and gold winners of the coveted Clown Awards, given to the most creative and unique acts by the show’s jugglers, magicians, clowns, equilibrists and animals. Equally, the New Generation performers will receive similar awards for their efforts, and both groups will be honoured at the Gala Awards Ceremony which will be held on Tuesday 24th January.
The circus, started by Prince Rainier III in 1974, was formed to create a place where traditional circus performers and their families could be supported and showcase their talents to audiences. This small idea has gone on to blossom into the largest circus festival in the world, and has spawned other circus-related events in Monaco, such as the summer workshops, which lets kids try their hands at juggling, acrobatics and other fun activities, as well as the celebration of World Circus Day.
The International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo will be held from 20th to 29th January 2023 at the Chapiteau de l’Espace Fontvieille. Tickets, which are on sale now, as well as more information, can be found online at www.montecarlofestival.mc and www.francebillet.com/ or at the ticket office of the Chapiteau from Monday to Friday, 10am to 1pm and from 2pm to 6pm.
Photo source: International Circus Festival of Monaco
The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU’s governing institutions, has adopted a new plan, the Youth Action Plan, which targets young people around the globe to come together to “build a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable future”.
The European Union’s latest strategic partnership isn’t with a continent, country or even a government. It is with the young people of the world, whom they hope to mobilise as a powerful force for change.
As part of the European Year of Youth, the new Youth Action Plan in EU External Action is looking to unite youth in partner countries with those in the European Union, and it is guided by three principles: engagement, empowerment, and connections.
By engaging, the EC intends to increase youth voices in policy and decision-making. They will also endeavour to fight inequality and provide young people with the skills needed to be effective members of a global society, thus empowering them. Finally, the plan will connect youth through networking and exchanges, giving them opportunities outside their normal spheres and fostering friendships and understanding.
“With the world undergoing a demographic transition, the Youth Action Plan will be an important contribution to our pursuit of intergenerational solidarity and equity,” said European Commission Vice-President for Democracy and Demography Dubravka Šuica. “We need to empower children and young people across the world, ensure that they have concrete opportunities and promote the effective engagement of young people and children as a right, ensuring no one is left behind. We share the collective responsibility to build more democratic, equal and peaceful societies, also for future generations.”
Some of the new and ongoing initiatives falling under this umbrella plan include the Youth and Women in Democracy Initiative, a €40 million project that will give youth and women activists and organisations the chance to participate more fully in political affairs. They will also be backing the Youth Empowerment Fund, a pilot scheme that will provide direct financial backing to youth-led projects in partner nations who are promoting sustainable development at a grass-roots level. Additionally, the plan will fund the Africa-Europe Youth Academy, which will funnel €50 million in fiscal support to young people from Africa who are willing to improve their leadership skills and become policy-makers.
As Commissioner for International Partnership Jutta Urpilainen said of the overall good that is hoping to be achieved: “The Youth Action Plan lives up to our commitment to putting youth at the centre of the EU’s external action for sustainable development, equality, and peace and giving them a real voice to shape the solutions for a better future. We have heard young people and will meaningfully engage, empower and connect with them while providing them with opportunities, starting with the Global Gateway Strategy, the EU’s offer to partners for investments that work for people and the planet.”
Under the floodlights of Sakhir, Ferrari fans worldwide revelled in a moment of catharsis. Pre-season expectations were realised; Charles Leclerc was atop the podium. But that was as good as it got.
Fans of the prancing horse went into this season with an unusual sensation: hope. Following over a decade of mediocrity, the signs from pre-season testing were more than encouraging. Pundits and experts alike had heavily tipped them for a strong season.
Having given up early on last year’s model, preparations for the sweeping set of rule changes that were brought in for the 2022 season were made early. The horse had essentially bolted out of the starting gate before their rivals, and the result was a car that looked unpeered at the opening race in Bahrain in late march.
The stars seemed to have aligned for Ferrari, and for Leclerc. The prophecy was written, the world title beckoned. But as the season wore on, it slowly and agonisingly became more apparent that this prophecy would not be fulfilled.
A visual metaphor
If one is looking for an explanation for Ferrari’s shortcomings, one needn’t look any further than the image of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull and Leclerc’s Ferrari side-by-side following Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix. For Leclerc, it was the race in which the bell finally tolled on his lifeless championship aspirations; for Max Verstappen, it represented a just reward for an imperious season.
The state of Ferrari’s heavily worn, degraded intermediate tyres, juxtaposed with the relatively fresh set on Perez’s Red Bull, provided the perfect visual metaphor. It is here, more so than elsewhere, where the title was won and lost, whilst the contrast only goes to highlight the development of the Red Bull, and the stasis of the Ferrari, which has struggled to keep pace with their ever-improving, run-away rivals. The Italian manufacturer may have had the edge in March, but that is certainly no longer the case.
Tyre degradation was a season-long thorn in Ferrari’s side. Whilst, at least at the beginning of the season, Ferrari had the pace over the Red Bull, their difficulties with tyre management have persisted. Unable to prolong their stints on any tyre compound, Ferrari essentially handed Red Bull a strategic carte blanche that they duly profited from over the course of the campaign.
Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari at the Japanese Grand Prix. Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari Press Office
Squandered opportunities
The degradation issue is a mitigating factor for Ferrari, but it doesn’t wholly explain their inability to profit from a position of strength. On numerous occasions, most glaringly in Leclerc’s home Grand Prix in Monaco and then at Silverstone, Ferrari simply made the wrong calls at the wrong time.
Perhaps the most costly error, both in terms of morale and in tangible points-terms, was the one made during the British Grand Prix. Ferrari’s call to keep race leader Leclerc out, whilst everyone else pitted, was a moment of folie from the Italian manufacturer. Not only did it cost him a likely win, but at the mercy of a whole grid of cars on fresher tyres; he even lost his place on the podium. The Monégasque had looked set for a 23-point swing against championship rival Verstappen; ultimately the gap was closed by just six points. Verstappen had been let off the hook.
Looking to make up for those team errors, Leclerc was guilty of pushing too hard at the French Grand Prix three weeks later, as he lost the rear end whilst leading the race. Arguably, however, at that point, the championship was already gone.
Leclerc’s evolving tones
For the first time, resignation started to seep into Leclerc’s post-race discourse. Gone was the start of season optimism, as was the anger and disappointment that was evident during the beginning of the European season, despite Leclerc’s attempted concealment of such emotions.
By the time the Belgian Grand Prix came around in late August, Leclerc admitted that the gap between him and Verstappen was “really big”. The Monégasque driver added that Ferrari would “take it race by race”, a trite comment synonymous with “the title race is over”.
Leclerc’s discourse has evolved further in recent weeks, perhaps just to give some semblance of meaning to the remainder of the season, or perhaps in genuine hope of launching a better title challenge in 2023.
“I want to use these last races to improve our execution and I think that we made a step in the right direction today,” said Leclerc following his second-place finish in Singapore.
For Leclerc therefore, the remaining four races on this season’s F1 calendar will be pedagogical experiences for himself and his team. Whilst the prophecy wasn’t fulfilled this year, there is no reason why Leclerc and Ferrari can’t learn from this season’s mistakes and construct a more lasting title challenge in 2023.
A TedX Youth event, organised by and for young people based on the successful Ted Talks model, will be held at the International School of Monaco, where kids can learn to confidently speak in public on the theme of ‘Dream it. Wish it. Do it.’
TEDx Youth is part of the global phenomenon of independently-organised TED talk-like conferences celebrating “ideas worth spreading”, but this one is exclusively for young people.
The International School of Monaco (ISM) will take part for the second time, after last year’s successful talk on ‘Mistakes that Changed the World’, which has been viewed over 11,000 times on YouTube.
This year’s event, the only TedX Youth one being held in the Principality, will take place on 15th October at 2pm in the ISM cafeteria in front of a live audience and on camera, and will feature nine students aged 10 to 17 years speaking on the theme, as well as a showing of selected TED videos and musical entertainment.
The benefits of the event are numerous, not only giving young people the opportunity to get used to public speaking, a valuable life skill, but also showing that Monaco’s educational landscape is producing innovators and educators for the future. Training of this sort helps in later life for university and job interviews, as well as in the professional realm where confidence in speech can make the difference in getting a project made or sealing the deal.
Registration and more information is available online at www.ismonaco.com
The chefs who will feature in this year’s Festival of the Stars have been announced. Britain’s Clare Smyth, Australia’s Shaun Hergatt, France’s Bruno Verjus and Italy’s Davide Oldani will join Monaco’s Michelin-starred chefs for a series of extraordinary dining experiences.
One can barely throw a stone without hitting a Michelin-starred restaurant in Monaco these days. Diners have irresistible choices like never before, so it takes something truly special to create a serious buzz.
That buzz is here. After a successful launch in 2021, the Monte-Carlo Festival of the Stars (Festival des Etoilés Monte-Carlo) is returning to the Principality this autumn. Monte-Carlo SBM is once again giving foodies a chance to sample menus prepared by four Michelin-star chefs who have each invited a special guest to join them to create unforgettable culinary experiences.
It all kicks off on Friday 2nd September at Le Louis XV-Alain Ducasse at the Hôtel de Paris where the man himself, Alain Ducasse, will collaborate with his chef Emmanuel Pilon and triple-Michelin star awardee Clare Smyth for a special lunch and dinner service. British Smyth was trained under the legendary Ducasse early in her career, and has gone on to open her own establishment, Core by Clare Smyth, where she became the first woman in Britain to obtain a third Michelin-star for her work.
Next up on 7th October will be the dynamic duo of Monte-Carlo Bay’s Marcel Ravin and modernist Australian chef Shaun Hergatt. Ravin’s Caribbean-infused cuisine has made him his name and earned him two Michelin stars, making him one of Monaco’s most popular chefs.
Hergatt, now a New York transplant, has won both Best Young Chef and Best New Restaurant awards from the New York Times, the Michelin Guide and Esquire Magazine. His creativity is the ideal foil to Ravin’s exotic fare.
Then on 15th October, Yannick Alleno and Bruno Verjus team up for a night to remember. It wasn’t long ago that three-starred Alleno opened his new-look restaurant, Pavyllon Monte-Carlo, at the Hotel Hermitage Monte-Carlo where he is making magic every day.
He is joined by businessman turned food writer turned Chef Bruno Verjus. Verjus was in his 50s when he opened his first eatery, Table, and is now one of France’s most respected chefs, winning his second Michelin star this year.
Finally, on 21st and 22nd October, Executive Chef of the Hôtel de Paris’ Le Grill, Dominique Lory, will be joined by Davide Oldani for two spectacular nights. Lory worked alongside Alain Ducasse for many years, earning him accolades and skills.
Italian chef Oldani is bringing his “cucina pop” to Monaco, showcasing his delicious flavours and uncomplicated recipes to the Principality’s fine diners, for a night sure to dazzle.
For more info on the events and to book reservations, visit the website.
Four design proposals for the future international school, Borgo del Forte Campus, in Ventimiglia have been selected, with the final project forming a major aspect of the new urban redevelopment project that is transforming Ventimiglia.
On 23rd September, the Marina Development Corporation (MDC), an urban redevelopment company, examined the design proposals of four Italian architectural firms for the construction of the Borgo del Forte Campus in the Campasso di Nervia area in Ventimiglia.
The Borgo del Forte Campus will be situated in the former Campasso railway yard, near the mouth of the Nervia river.
The Borgo del Forte Campus is designed to fit strategically into the overall plan to relaunch the city of Ventimiglia through the new high-end development project, Marina di Ventimiglia, and the Borgo del Forte aspect that is planned for the rear port of the city.
The Borgo del Forte Campus will cover a total of 42,000 square metres and include a sports centre with indoor swimming pool that can be used all year round, a fully equipped gym, changing rooms, services and a dedicated club house, as well as a multifunctional area for indoor/outdoor activities and some tennis courts, all open to the public.
International school design by MCA – Mario Cucinella Architects
A multi-level building will be built next to the sports centre to house the international school – the heart of the Campus. To the south, the 1,600 square metre former railway depot building will be renovated and used as a conference centre with conference room, exhibition/fair area, and offices, all overlooking a large green park.
Finally, the former guesthouse will be renovated and used as an accommodation facility for athletes, students and teachers, and the third existing building will be equipped for reception services, offices and cafeteria. The Campus will also be able to take advantage of over 3,000 square meters of parking.
The following four Italian architectural firms were chosen for their designs: Atelier Alfonso Femia, MCA – Mario Cucinella Architects, One Works and Lombardini22 studios. By the end of the year, the design projects will be presented to the international school operator currently being selected by MDC for the management of the Campus.
Sports centre design by MCA – Mario Cucinella Architects
“It is a great pleasure to have received today in Ventimiglia four of the best architectural firms in Italy who presented their design proposals for Borgo del Forte Campus, all of great value and responding to the requests made during the tender,” said MDC CEO Giuseppe Noto. “This confirms the relevance and quality of the Marina di Ventimiglia urban regeneration project, which we have been carrying out with local and regional administrations for almost two years, for the relaunch of western Liguria through a new hotel, residential and educational-sporting offer.”
Borgo del Forte Campus is an integral part of Marina di Ventimiglia, the large urban regeneration project presented in April last year by MDC, aimed at creating a new tourist destination on the seafront of the western Ligurian city and breathing new life to the Italian Riviera.
Project design by MCA – Mario Cucinella Architects
Marina di Ventimiglia will be developed on a total area of 57,000 square metres, with an investment of over €200 million, and it includes several ambitious projects, the main one being Borgo del Forte. It forms part of Marina San Giuseppe which is located behind the port of Cala del Forte, inaugurated last summer and owned by the Port of Monaco. Here will be built a five-star hotel with 25 suite rooms, as well as gym, wellness centre, restaurant, and 130 apartments for sale, all equipped with large terraces. The intention is to create a community that is active and lively all year round.
Other main developments include the construction of a panoramic restaurant called La Rocca, which is close to being built, and Club Italia, transforming the former ACI building into a food and beverage centre of excellence.
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