The first Palais des Festivals et des Congrès was a building built in 1949 to host the Cannes Film Festival

Cannes Film Festival

The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

. The original building was located on the boulevard of Promenade de la Croisette

Promenade de la Croisette

The Promenade de la Croisette is a prominent road in Cannes, France. It stretches along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea and is about 2 km long. The Croisette is known for the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, where the Cannes Film Festival is held...

 on the present site of the JW Marriott Cannes. In response to the growing success of the Festival and the advent of the first business conventions, such as the MIPTV Media Market

MIPTV Media Market

-MIPTV:MIPTV is an event which takes place annually in Cannes, using the facilities and infrastructure which the town has developed over the years to host other important events such as the Cannes Film Festival amongst other events....

 since 1965, the City of Cannes

Cannes

Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....

decided to build a new Palais in 1979. The new building, designed by the architects Bennett & Druet and constructed on the site of the municipal Casino, opened in December 1982 and expanded in 1999 with the construction of the Espace Riviera, a new space of 10,000 square meters. Today, the Palais des Festivals has an overall space capacity of 25,000 square meters for exhibitions, which is used for exhibitions, as well as numerous rooms and 18 auditoriums.
It hosted the 6th Eurovision Song Contest.

Today

In January 1992, the Society of Mixed Economy for the Events of the city of Cannes (SEMEC), was created to manage the Palais. SEMEC is the merger of three non-profit organizations: Cannes Tourism, the OMACC and the association Cannes Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. Under the auspices of the city of Cannes, SEMEC's various responsibilities in the domain of public service include the promotion of Cannes by developing leisure tourism for individuals and groups, the marketing of business tourism and the management of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, and Cannes cultural events. SEMEC has a budget of 2.3 million Euros, 80% of which is earmarked for Cannes’ public sector. The rest is used for the city’s private sector of local partners in tourist development (palaces, destination management companies, the Caisse d’Epargne and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry).

External links

• Official site