#hello_monaco weekend: what to do on December 30th and December 31st

This New Year’s Eve weekend you are surely have a lot of plans. But in case you are still hesitating or didn’t have time to make plans, here are a few suggestions.

Come celebrate the New Year’s Eve in the Heart of the Christmas Village. A dance evening with DJs and 2 stages is organized in the Port of Monaco on December 31st from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. At midnight there will be a light fountain show at the Stade Nautique Rainier III.

Monaco will be ringing in the New Year in style at the Christmas Village at Port Hercule, with a special evening with fireworks on 31 December, organised by the city’s Entertainments Service!

You can begin your day with a walk in the Christmas Village. The theme this year is “Rainier III, a Passionate Prince”. There will be specially created decorations for all ages to enjoy, showcasing Prince Rainier III’s greatest passions, namely the sea, the arts, wildlife, and sport.

In addition to the “Rainier III, Passionate Prince” Christmas Village on the Quai Albert I, a vast area of fun and sporting activities will take up residence on the South Dock of the Port of Monaco, from Friday December 15, 2023 at 4 p.m. to Sunday January 7, 2024 at 10:30 p.m.

Several flagship installations:

• a treetop adventure course (from 8 years old)
• a climbing structure, made up of several colored routes representing different levels of difficulty (from 6 years old)
• 3 obstacle courses of increasing difficulty inspired by the famous TV game Ninja Warrior: “P’tit Ninja” for children aged 3 to 6; “Ninja Kid” for ages 6-12 and “Ninja Hero” for teens ages 12 and up. These last two courses will be more than 50 meters long.
• Finally, something new in the Principality… a 180 meter long zip line will allow the bravest to fly over the Swimming Pool Route, starting from the highest diving board of the Stade Nautique Rainier swimming pool.

The Sports Village is organized by the Mairie de Monaco from December 15, 2023 to January 7, 2024.

Experience the magic of A Christmas Carol at the iconic Casino Square, with giant snowballs illustrating scenes from Charles Dickens’ famous fairytale from Thursday 7 December 2023 to Sunday 7 January 2024, at the Place du Casino. Soak up the spirit of Christmas, generosity, and goodwill to all men! You’ll also find the legendary Christmas Carousel and Chalet in the Jardin des Boulingrins gardens opposite the Casino de Monte-Carlo. The perfect place for an enchanting time with all the family! The Chalet will be serving traditional crêpes, churros, and comforting hot drinks.

The Principality’s Nativity Trail, founded in 2014 in Monaco’s Old Town, to bring festive Christmas cheer and convey the culture and values embodied by nativity scenes from every continent, will be held this year from Friday 8 December 2023 to Monday 8 January 2024 in Monaco-Ville. Each year, nativity scenes are displayed all along the trail, set up in specially installed chalets and in the various State buildings in the Old Town district.

Experience the spirit of Christmas at the Patio of the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo from Saturday 9 December 2023 to Sunday 7 January 2024. This year, the iconic prestige hotel invites you to soak up the magic of the festive season with traditional English-style celebrations and decorations in its winter garden, Le Patio, for a Christmas full of luxury and sparkle.

You can enjoy screening  of “Carmen Jones”, Otto Preminger (1954) as part of the Monaco Dance Forum from Saturday 30 to Sunday 31 December 2023, at 7.30 pm, in the Grimaldi Forum Monaco.

Screening is organized in partnership with Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, as part of the Monaco Dance Forum, in collaboration with the Audiovisual Institute of Monaco.

The charisma of Dorothy Dandridge and the virtuoso talent of Otto Preminger combine for the perfect screen portrayal of Carmen. The character invented by Mérimée finds its only perfect and truly creative incarnation on screen in this Carmen Jones, a transposition of Mérimée’s short story to contemporary times of black Americans.