Roll Out the Red Carpet

On the eve of the 70th Cannes film festival, David Atkinson soaks up the glamorous atmosphere of the Côte d’Azur resort.

There is a rush on light bulbs on the Riviera this month; in particular, the kind of giant, high-intensity ones that will shine out over the Mediterranean and spell the word ‘Cannes’ – a homage to the famous sign looming over Tinsel Town from the Hollywood Hills. The reason? This year marks the 70th running of the world’s most famous film festival.

Cannes has enjoyed a frisson of Hollywood glamour as host to the cinema world’s cornerstone event since its launch just after World War II. The red carpet is permanently rolled out in front of the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, just off the Boulevard de la Croisette, and the festival attracts global media interest. Cannes may have provided the backdrop to Meg Ryan’s French Kiss and Rowan Atkinson’s Mr Bean’s Holiday but, during the festival, it is very much the leading lady.

The first official International Film Festival in Cannes opened on 20 September 1946, after an earlier event, in 1939, had been abandoned due to the outbreak of war. It moved permanently to May in 1952 and soon established itself as the go-to event for the stars of cinema’s golden age, with Kirk Douglas, Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida among early celebrity arrivals.

Today, the Festival de Cannes is a huge business event for film professionals, with an annual budget of around €20 million, and generates some €80 million for the town and wider region. The resort’s 70,000 population almost doubles as 50,000 movers and shakers come to the Côte d’Azur, this year from 17-28 May.

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