Cannes’ moment of glory takes place in May, with the International Cannes Film Festival, when images of the stars descending the red-carpeted steps of the Palais des Festivals are flashed on television screens worldwide. For many, this city on France’s Côte d’Azur is synonymous with the glamour of this event. Often overlooked, however, is the fact that Cannes is France’s second most important city – after Paris – for business tourism. The chameleon city takes on an identity to suit the temper of each major congress, festival or season. MIDEM, the conference for the music business, takes place in January and turns Cannes into a city of young, fun, music professionals. March brings a sober, suited crowd for MIPIM – the international real-estate market – and October, a conservative crowd for the Tax Free World Exhibition.

This modern city, branded by critics as superficial, grew up from a small fishing town on the south coast of France. In the 11th 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. They built a square tower on the top of the hill, as a lookout post for Saracen pirates. It still stands, next to the Castre Museum, in the heart of Le Suquet, Cannes’ Old Town that was built on the site of a Roman military camp. The fishing tradition lives on and fish caught at the Vieux Port – to the west of the Palais des Festivals – are brought daily by the fishermen to the covered Forville Market, where they are sold by their wives, who rarely fit the city’s glamorous image.