Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat Prestige Returns in Style

 

There are few places better suited to a celebration of automotive elegance than Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, and on 12 and 13 September the peninsula will once again become a showcase for some of the world’s most remarkable historic and prestigious automobiles.

The 13th edition of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat Prestige will transform Place du Centenaire and the port into an open-air museum of automotive history, bringing together rare classics, competition cars, exceptional coupés and convertibles. Best of all, admission is free, allowing visitors to experience the spectacle against one of the Côte d’Azur’s most glamorous backdrops.

This year’s event has a distinctly Japanese flavour, with Japan chosen as the principal theme. Among the stars of the weekend will be the extraordinary Toyota 2000GT, one of the most coveted Japanese sports cars ever produced. The model achieved international fame after appearing in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice, in which a specially adapted convertible was driven alongside Sean Connery.

The Toyota will form part of a dedicated Monaco pavilion, adding another layer of Riviera glamour to an event already closely associated with the world of luxury motoring. Visitors will also be able to discover a vehicle from the private collection of Prince Albert II of Monaco, although its identity is being kept secret until the event itself.

 

The Japanese theme extends beyond the Toyota, with displays celebrating some of the country’s most significant sporting and performance cars, including road-going versions of successful rally machines and celebrated Japanese coupés. Elsewhere, the motor sport pavilion will bring together single-seaters connected with major international racing, while specialist restorers, upholsterers and coach-trimmers demonstrate the painstaking craftsmanship required to preserve automotive history.

 

But Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat Prestige is about more than simply putting beautiful cars on display. One of the weekend’s highlights will be the Concours d’Élégance, where a carefully selected collection of coupés and convertibles will compete for honours based on their design, authenticity and historical significance.

The concours jury will be led by former Formula One driver and Monaco resident Thierry Boutsen, while visitors will have the opportunity to select their own favourite for the Public Prize. The competing automobiles will parade along Quai Virgile Allari at 3.30pm on Saturday, before returning to the port for the main concours from 3pm on Sunday. Trophy presentations and the Public Prize will follow at 4.40pm, with a final parade around the port scheduled for 5.30pm.

 

For families, the Prestige Kids Village at the Théâtre sur la Mer provides a more hands-on introduction to motoring. Children can take to an inflatable electric-car circuit, try remote-controlled miniature cars or participate in creative workshops, making the event as accessible to younger visitors as it is to serious collectors and enthusiasts.

 

The setting is ultimately part of the attraction. Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat’s combination of waterfront scenery, elegant villas, historic architecture and unmistakable Riviera atmosphere provides an appropriately spectacular stage for some of the world’s most beautiful automobiles.

 

The event runs from 9.30am to 6pm on both Saturday and Sunday, with free access to the exhibitions, concours and activities. Free shuttle buses will run between Le Cap and the village approximately every 20 minutes from 10am to 1pm and again from 2.30pm to 6.30pm. Visitors arriving by public transport can also use bus line 15, getting off at the Port de Saint-Jean stop.

 

For anyone spending September on the French Riviera, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat Prestige offers a particularly appealing combination: exceptional cars, international motorsport heritage, Monaco glamour and one of the Côte d’Azur’s most prestigious settings — all wrapped into a free weekend event beside the Mediterranean.

Cannes Yachting Festival 2026: The French Riviera Gets Ready for Six Days of Yachting, Luxury and Life at Sea

 

There are few places in the world better suited to a major yacht show than Cannes, and from 8 to 13 September 2026, the French Riviera will once again become the international meeting place for yacht owners, boating enthusiasts, industry professionals, designers and luxury-lifestyle lovers as the Cannes Yachting Festival returns to the city’s spectacular waterfront.

Spread across two iconic locations — Cannes’ Vieux Port and Port Canto — the 2026 edition promises an extraordinary showcase of the international boating industry, with more than 700 boats and yachts, hundreds of exhibitors and an impressive selection of new launches and innovations.

The Festival describes itself as an opportunity to tour, sea-trial and discover some of the world’s most exceptional yachts in the heart of the French Riviera. And that setting is difficult to beat: visitors move between the historic Vieux Port at the foot of Le Suquet and Port Canto at the eastern end of the Croisette, with the Mediterranean providing the backdrop throughout.

Two harbours, two very different experiences

The Vieux Port is the Festival’s home for motor yachts and marine innovation. Visitors can expect more than 350 boats ranging from approximately 12 to 45 metres, alongside major shipyards, marine equipment manufacturers and companies showcasing the latest developments in boating technology.

The atmosphere changes at Port Canto, where sailing takes centre stage. The harbour hosts the Sailing Area, Yacht Brokerage Area, Toys Area and Power Boat Marina, creating a particularly diverse experience for visitors interested in everything from sailing yachts and pre-owned superyachts to dayboats and water toys.

For sailing enthusiasts, 2026 is shaping up to be particularly interesting. The Festival says that around 120 monohulls and multihulls will be displayed in the Sailing Area, with more than 400 metres of quay dedicated to monohulls and more than 450 metres to multihulls. The 2026 programme also includes a selection of world premieres.

A major international showcase

The scale of the event is considerable. Festival figures list approximately 56,600 visitors, 680+ exhibitors and 710+ boats and yachts, underlining why Cannes has become such an important date on the international boating calendar.

Beyond simply looking at beautiful boats, visitors can explore new marine technology, equipment, design and sustainable innovations through the Festival’s Innovation Route. The programme includes awards recognising innovative vessels, sustainable products, navigation equipment and corporate social-responsibility initiatives.

And, of course, there is the possibility of actually stepping aboard some of the vessels. Many exhibitors allow visitors to tour boats, although individual access is controlled by exhibitors. Selected exhibitors also offer sea trials, generally by appointment and subject to their own conditions.

When is the Cannes Yachting Festival 2026?

The Festival runs for six days, from Tuesday 8 September through Sunday 13 September 2026.

The official visitor opening hours are:

• Tuesday 8 September: 10:00–19:00

• Wednesday 9 September: 10:00–19:00

• Thursday 10 September: 10:00–19:00

• Friday 11 September: 10:00–22:00

• Saturday 12 September: 10:00–19:00

• Sunday 13 September: 10:00–18:00

The Friday evening opening until 22:00 gives visitors an opportunity to experience the show after dark, when the atmosphere around the Cannes waterfront takes on an entirely different character.

Where is it held?

The Festival is divided between:

Vieux Port — Cannes
Located in the centre of Cannes, immediately below Le Suquet and alongside the Croisette.

Port Canto — Cannes
Located at the eastern end of the Croisette.

The two sites are both part of the same Festival, making it worthwhile to allow plenty of time to explore both. The Festival’s official interactive map is intended to help visitors locate exhibitors, boats, restaurants, VIP areas, entrances and shuttle stops.

What about tickets?

Tickets are sold through the official Cannes Yachting Festival ticketing platform. The Festival’s website directs visitors to its online ticketing system for purchases.

Important: the official ticketing platform is currently protected against automated access, so the individual 2026 public ticket price is not reliably exposed in the publicly crawlable pages. Rather than publish an unverified figure, visitors should check the live price displayed when purchasing through the official ticket portal.

The official website also offers VIP programmes, with enhanced hospitality and additional services for visitors looking for a more exclusive Festival experience.

Official tickets: Cannes Yachting Festival ticketing platform

Getting there from the Riviera

For international visitors, the obvious gateway is Nice Côte d’Azur International Airport, which is approximately 30 minutes from Cannes by Uber under normal traffic conditions. The Festival also highlights transport connections and accommodation options for visitors travelling to the show.

For anyone already staying on the Côte d’Azur, Cannes is particularly accessible by train, making the Festival a relatively easy day trip from Nice, Antibes, Juan-les-Pins, Monaco and many other Riviera destinations.

More than just boats

The Cannes Yachting Festival has increasingly become as much a lifestyle event as a traditional boat show.

Visitors can combine yacht viewing with restaurants, waterfront spaces, networking, shopping and the general Riviera atmosphere surrounding the Croisette. The Festival’s new Solarium at the Vieux Port, for example, offers a beach-style relaxation area with loungers and parasols, while live demonstrations are also scheduled nearby.

There is also an important practical element behind the glamour. The Festival has supported the SNSM, France’s national sea-rescue organisation, for several years, highlighting the importance of safety at sea alongside the industry’s focus on luxury and performance.

Follow the Cannes Yachting Festival

For announcements, new yacht reveals, exhibitor news, photographs, videos and updates during the event, the Festival maintains official accounts across the major social platforms:

• Instagram — Cannes Yachting Festival

• Facebook — Cannes Yachting Festival

• LinkedIn — Cannes Yachting Festival

• X — Cannes Yachting Festival

• YouTube — Cannes Yachting Festival

The Festival itself lists Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X and YouTube as its official social channels.

Cannes prepares to welcome the world of yachting

For six September days, Cannes becomes a floating showroom for some of the most exciting developments in the international boating industry. Whether your interest is a sleek motor yacht, a sailing catamaran, the latest marine technology, water toys, yacht brokerage or simply experiencing one of the Riviera’s major luxury events, the Cannes Yachting Festival offers plenty to explore.

And there is something particularly fitting about seeing the newest generation of yachts gathered along the Cannes waterfront. The Festival combines the serious business of an international marine industry event with the glamour, sunshine and unmistakable lifestyle of the French Riviera.

Cannes Yachting Festival 2026
8–13 September 2026
Vieux Port & Port Canto, Cannes
Friday late opening: until 22:00

Self-Defense, Confidence and Community: LGBTQIA+ Classes Return to Vieux-Nice

 

Nice and the surrounding Côte d’Azur are known for being safe places to live and visit, but it never hurts to learn a few skills to feel more confident and better prepared to protect yourself.

As the new school year begins, the Centre LGBTQIA+ Côte d’Azur is once again offering its self-defense classes in Nice—an initiative that has been helping people build confidence and feel safer for the past 10 years.

For the LGBTQIA+ community, self-defense can mean far more than learning a physical skill. In a world where homophobic and transphobic violence remains a reality, knowing how to respond in an uncomfortable or threatening situation can provide an important sense of confidence and reassurance.

The aim, however, isn’t to create a room full of combat champions. Quite the opposite.

These classes focus on simple, practical techniques designed to help participants react quickly when faced with a difficult situation, including ways to dodge, evade and use basic holds to create an opportunity to get away safely.

And you don’t need to be athletic—or have any previous experience—to take part.

Participants progress at their own pace, with an emphasis on respecting individual bodies, abilities and limitations. There is no competition, no intimidation and no pressure to perform.

Instead, the classes are designed around a friendly, inclusive and supportive environment where people can learn together and gradually develop greater confidence.

Leading the sessions is Melody Malatesta, a passionate coach and teacher who welcomes participants whatever their existing level of fitness or experience.

The classes resume on Saturday, September 26, at 10 a.m., and will then take place every Saturday from 10 to 11 a.m.

Class details

Every Saturday, 10–11 a.m.
Salle Walter Malatesta
8 rue Saint-Vincent, Vieux-Nice
Open to everyone
No previous experience required

To register, contact Pierre-Yves at 06 89 36 33 75.

At its heart, the programme offers a simple but important message: self-defense isn’t about learning to fight—it is about learning that you have options.

For LGBTQIA+ people navigating public spaces where harassment, intimidation or violence can sometimes be a concern, that knowledge can be empowering in itself.

And after a decade of classes, the programme continues to demonstrate that creating safer communities isn’t only about responding to violence after it happens. It’s also about giving people the tools, confidence and solidarity to feel more secure in the first place.

Haut Bas Fragile: NEO art & culture lab x VogelART Present a New International Exhibition

 

Nice will welcome a compelling new chapter in its contemporary art scene this autumn with Haut bas fragile, a new exhibition presented by NEO art & culture lab x VogelART and curated by artist and curator Thomas Zitzwitz.

Running from September 24 to October 11, 2026, the exhibition brings together an impressive group of international artists whose work explores some of the most elusive and universal conditions of contemporary life: fragility, vulnerability, transformation and resilience.

Following his previous exhibitions, Tender is the Night and Sympathetic Ink, Zitzwitz continues to examine contemporary artistic practices through exhibitions that deliberately resist easy categorisation. Rather than presenting a single narrative, Haut bas fragile creates a space where different artistic voices, mediums and perspectives can exist in tension with one another.

The title itself is borrowed from Jacques Rivette’s 1995 film Haut bas fragile, a work known for its playful, open-ended narrative and its fascination with what remains unresolved, suspended or unfinished. That sensibility becomes an important thread running through the exhibition.

High, low, fragile.

The three words suggest not only emotional states but also the contradictions of contemporary existence. They describe moments of vulnerability and strength, certainty and doubt, intimacy and exposure. In a world increasingly defined by instability and rapid transformation, fragility is no longer simply something to be overcome. It can also become a condition through which we understand ourselves, our relationships and the societies around us.

The exhibition therefore brings together works that question what happens when stability gives way to uncertainty, when something familiar is transformed, or when vulnerability becomes a source of resilience.

Across a diverse range of media and artistic approaches, Haut bas fragile creates a dialogue between lightness and gravity, intimacy and public space, stability and uncertainty. Rather than prescribing a particular interpretation, the exhibition invites visitors to move through these contrasts and construct their own understanding of what is fragile, unfinished or in transition.

That openness is particularly appropriate for an exhibition in Nice, a city whose artistic identity has long been shaped by encounters between different cultures, movements and generations.

A Curator with Deep Roots on the Côte d’Azur

For Thomas Zitzwitz, the exhibition also represents something of a homecoming.

An artist as well as an experienced curator, Zitzwitz has a longstanding personal connection to Nice and the Côte d’Azur. He grew up in Èze, just outside Nice, and attended school in the region.

That connection gives his work at NEO an additional dimension. His relationship with the Côte d’Azur is not simply that of an outside curator arriving to stage an exhibition in an attractive Mediterranean city. It is rooted in personal experience and a longstanding familiarity with the region and its creative environment.

His own experience as an artist also informs the way he approaches exhibitions. Rather than treating artworks as isolated objects, Zitzwitz brings together artists through encounters, relationships and an understanding of the creative processes behind their work.

The result is an exhibition conceived less as a conventional collection of individual works and more as a conversation between artistic positions.

An Exceptionally International Line-up

The exhibition features an extensive roster of artists from different generations and artistic backgrounds, including:

Adriane Wachholz, Alicja Kwade, André Wendland, Aneta Kajzer, Bertille Bak, Camille Henrot, Carsten Höller, Christian August, Cosimo Casoni, Frédéric Weigel, Gregor Hildebrandt, Ida Ekblad, Isa Melsheimer, Jean Bedez, Jenny Brosinski, Joan Jonas, Johannes Daniel, Kenny Schachter, Kristian Touborg, Lars Breuer, Lou Ros, Lucie Antoinette, Marie Bovo, Norbert Bisky, Pablo Tomek, Philip Grözinger, Sophie Calle, Thomas Zitzwitz, Ugo Rondinone, Xiyao Wang and Yorgos Stamkopoulos.

The breadth of the participating artists is one of the exhibition’s most intriguing elements. Their differing practices and perspectives create precisely the kind of friction that Haut bas fragile seeks to explore.

Rather than offering a uniform aesthetic, the exhibition promises a polyphonic experience, where visitors can encounter different interpretations of vulnerability, change and resilience.

Opening Night and Special Performance

The exhibition officially opens with its vernissage on Thursday, September 24, from 6pm to 9pm.

The programme will also include a special performance by Frédéric Weigel on Sunday, October 4 at 7pm, adding another dimension to an exhibition already concerned with movement, transformation and the relationship between the unfinished and the complete.

Haut bas fragile will remain open from September 24 through October 11, Wednesday to Sunday from 2pm.

For Nice, the exhibition represents another welcome reminder that the city’s contemporary art scene extends well beyond its established museums and institutions. With an international group of artists, a curator with genuine ties to the region and a concept rooted in some of the most relevant questions of contemporary life, Haut bas fragile promises to be an exhibition that rewards curiosity rather than passive observation.

In the end, perhaps that is precisely what fragility demands: not certainty, but attention.

And in a city as layered, contradictory and perpetually evolving as Nice, an exhibition devoted to the fragile and unfinished feels particularly at home.