Monte-Carlo Television Festival : A Guide for Brands and Hospitality Programmes
The Monte-Carlo Television Festival is one of the oldest and most distinctive events in the screen industry calendar. Created in 1961 by Prince Rainier III of Monaco, it takes place every June at the Grimaldi Forum and celebrates its 65th anniversary in 2026. The festival runs from 12 to 16 June 2026 under the High Patronage of Prince Albert II. Over six decades it has built a unique position: it is simultaneously an industry event where studios, broadcasters, and digital platforms bring their new programmes for world premieres and press activities, and a fan-facing festival where the public can attend screenings, red carpet ceremonies, and signing sessions for free.
The Golden Nymph competition, which sits at the heart of the festival, awards prizes across fiction, documentaries and news, and in 2026 for the first time, digital content created for YouTube. The competition attracts international productions from major studios and independent producers, and the jury ceremony is a genuine prestige moment in the Monaco calendar.
Who attends the Monte-Carlo Television Festival ?
The professional audience includes senior executives from studios, broadcast networks, streaming platforms, talent agencies, and the technology and services companies working with them. The public audience is made up of passionate television fans, particularly strong in French-speaking markets, who attend screenings, fan events, and signing sessions with cast members from the series represented at the festival. Monaco’s concentrated geography and the presence of major hotel properties along the waterfront make it a particularly effective environment for the kind of hospitality that brings the right people into the same room.
What does brand activation look like at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival ?
Official partnerships with the festival allow brands to integrate into the competition programme, the Golden Nymph ceremonies, and the evening events that bring together talent and industry in Monaco’s glamorous summer setting. The Business Content programme within the festival runs a series of networking sessions and industry meetings, which gives brands with something relevant to say about the future of television a platform for content-led engagement.
Private events during the festival week are particularly well-suited to Monaco because the geography is compact and the concentration of participants is high. A dinner at one of Monaco’s waterfront restaurants for 30 streaming executives, or an evening drinks reception in a venue that captures the principality’s prestige, creates a memorable experience that is genuinely difficult to replicate elsewhere in the calendar. The timing in mid-June also works well for brands active at Cannes Lions the following week, allowing a combined Riviera programme across both events.
What does it cost ?
A contained presence at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, covering a private dinner or evening event for 25 to 40 guests during the festival week in a quality Monaco venue, sits in the range of 20,000 to 40,000 euros. A mid-range programme involving an official partnership with the festival, one or two private events, and a presence within the Business Content programme runs from 50,000 to 80,000 euros. A more significant commitment covering a named partnership with the Golden Nymph competition, branded integration into the award ceremonies, and a full hospitality programme across the festival week sits above 100,000 euros and is set in direct negotiation with the festival organisers. Monaco hospitality during festival week carries a premium over comparable events on the Côte d’Azur, reflecting the exclusivity of the setting and the quality of the audience.
When to start planning ?
The Monte-Carlo Television Festival is in mid-June. Official partnership discussions with the festival need to start in November or December. Private events during the festival week in Monaco need to be planned from January, with the best restaurant and venue reservations in a principality where prime space is genuinely limited going quickly once the festival dates are confirmed. The adjacency to Cannes Lions, which runs from 22 to 26 June 2026 the following week, means that Riviera accommodation and venues are under pressure across a three-week period, and early planning is not optional.
Planning an activation at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival ? Send us your brief.