Cannes
Cannes Film Festival
The Hôtel Majestic Barrière holds its own Festival
The Hôtel Majestic Barrière has chosen the opening evening of the Cannes 63rd Film Festival to open the new wing. An exceptional opportunity for Barrière Event Solutions to exhibit their expertise with panache.
We were waiting for an event such as the Cannes Film Festival Opening Dinner to unveil the hotel’s new wing. To highlight the architectural feat, our staff took on two simultaneous challenges: organise an outstanding show together with the Robin Hood film release. After the film, actors and numerous celebrities walked up the steps of the hotel with camera flashes going off all around, and were welcomed by 20 grooms in traditional uniforms. Over 800 guests were invited to the magical cocktail party in the gardens and various areas of the Cannes palace, while 800 other guests headed for the beach to celebrate the release of Ridley Scott’s film.
For the occasion staff took advantage of the resort’s resources and the hotel’s entire catering department were involved with help from the Casino Barrière Cannes kitchens: a total of 37 kitchen staff, 80 service staff, nearly 35,000 cold and hot dishes were made for the 2 evenings, over 500 bottles of champagne were served… light hearted and gourmet dishes from the Chef, who put together a huge choux puff, cream and chocolate pyramid right in front of the guests!
For the son et lumière show, the Majestic Barrière had practically half of the Croisette’s streetlights switched off. The show was projected onto a white silk screen covering the new wing and required support from over 40 technicians and stage managers, 6 video-projectors, 150 projectors, 200 torches and 16 fireworks… “The show was particularly complicated to put on because we had to go into guests’ rooms in the new wing to set everything up” explained Frédéric Claudet, a management representative. This large-scale technical organisation showed how effective they really are in putting on an emotional and unforgettable event.
The unveiling revealed the new building in all its splendour to the astonished crowd: an Art Deco building practically identical to the original including meeting rooms such as the majestic plenary hall overlooking the steps leading up to the Palais des Festivals, as well as 40 rooms and 2 penthouses on the last floors. Taking down the equipment used for the evening only took a few hours the following morning without guests noticing a thing.
Barrière Event Solutions had timed each detail down to the minute and had thought everything through: discrete but ever present security and faultless logistics. Over 800 umbrellas had been prepared to shelter the celebrities and luckily the rain did not last long and stopped when the show began.
