For many, Cannes is synonymous with the glamour of this event. The chameleon city takes on an identity to suit the temper of each major congress, festival or season.
Tourists jostle with conference-goers, outnumbering business travellers only in the summer months.
Their interests lie in the long, curvaceous, sandy beaches of La Croisette, its expanding Old Port which welcomes luxury cruise boats, its palatial hotels, the designer shops lining the famous promenade and the luminosity and gastronomy of the C te d'Azur. The Cannois enjoy the financial rewards that tourism and business travellers bring, losing their patience only at the height of the film festival when the population triples in size. Young women benefit fully from the shops, although they may seek out bargain buys instead of designer brands. This modern city, branded by critics as superficial, grew up from a small fishing town. In the eleventh century, Cannes was owned by monks, whose budget, fattened by wealthy pilgrims, allowed them to expand beyond their monastery to the nearby Island of St Honorat.