How to Crash Cannes – a 101 guide

by Annie Scott on


The Cannes Film Festival is an invitation-only, very glitzy affair which attracts hundreds of celebrities and elite guests from around the world. It’s no wonder that many of us fantasize about going. For most people, that dream may seem an impossible one. Well, guess what? It’s not.

This year, I was invited by Stella Artois, one of the main sponsors of the Cannes Film Festival 2010, to attend. Now, I’m not going to tell you “just make friends with someone at Anheuser-Busch.” No. And yes, I was afforded some privileges that crashers won’t be able to come by — but I did manage to figure out how a regular person could get there, attend the private screenings, and have a great time. So here we are:

How to Crash Cannes – a 101 guide

Get yourself to Cannes (obviously).

If you’re thinking about crashing Cannes 2011, book your flight now. The flights to Nice before and during the festival are booked solid and get very expensive if not reserved in advance. Cannes 2011 will be May 11 – 22. This is one thing you can’t get around unless you know someone with a private plane.

*Don’t* book a hotel.

Here’s where we get down to the business of skirting the system. It won’t work if everyone does it, but there are still some sorry folks out there who don’t read Gadling. Chances are, this will work …There are no hostels in Cannes. Some people go as far as finding campsites outside of Cannes and camping to avoid paying through the nose for a hotel when they all seem to be booked. That is not the glamorous kind of experience I’d want to have at the ritzy festival. What’s more, partying till dawn becomes difficult if you’re not staying in Cannes. Here’s something few people know: The Tourist Information Center right at the Palais de Festivals on Croisette has hotel rooms, even when the whole city seems to be sold out (ask for “Last Minute Accommodations”). Not only are there still rooms available — only for those who come to the Information Center and request them in person — but in some cases, they may have worked out deals which mean you’ll get them at discounted rates. Expect to pay about 150 euros per night to stay in the Cannes city center. While one shouldn’t count on it, you may get an even cheaper rate.

If that makes you nervous or is too expensive …

Booking now may save you a little cash, but to save more, you’ll have to stay outside of Cannes. Antibes is a good place to start, as well as Mandelieu. Be careful about transportation, though. Taxis are very expensive in the French Riviera, and having to take one could completely trump your savings. When booking a hotel outside of Cannes, ask specifically about whether Cannes can be reached by train or bus, what time of night the service ends, how much it costs and, most importantly, whether the train or bus stop is walkable to the hotel. If it’s not walkable, you’re not getting a deal. Expect to pay 60 – 70 euros per night for a hotel in a nearby town and be aware that most trains stop at midnight and most buses stop at 1:00 AM.

Getting into films and walking the red carpet — free.

All official Cannes Film Festival screenings are invitation-only. Invitations are given to celebs, friends of the filmmakers, locals, and other folks with connections. It is 100 percent illegal to buy or sell tickets to the festival, so if you see some on Craigslist, be extremely wary; either they’ve fallen into the wrong hands or they’re (probably) fakes. Here’s the good news; no one’s checking IDs or anything. It’s perfectly okay to be given a ticket or to give a ticket away. This results in people with signs like the one at right standing outside the Palais de Festivals during the day. Go ahead and give it a try; there are plenty of people with an extra ticket out there. A little patience could get you in to see a major film. Not only that, but according to the Tourist Information Center, a ticket alone entitles you to walk the red carpet right along with the celebrities. How awesome is that? Answer: I did it twice and it was totally, totally awesome. Be aware that the attire requirement is formal: mandatory tux and black tie or gown.

If that doesn’t pan out, you can still see films at Cannes — just not the official ones. For example, at the beach right next to the Palais de Festivals (below), they show classic films every night except the first and last nights of the festival. The screenings are free and folding chairs are provided. The only thing is, you have to line up to get in; space is limited.
Additionally, you can see films at Espace Miramar, just down the way, for free, or at La Malmaison, also on Croisette, where a parallel, fringe-type festival runs. You can attend for about 7 euros.

Lastly, if you don’t manage to score a ticket but want to tell all your friends that you did, fear not. There are red carpets everywhere, and even the ground along much of Croisette is painted red. A red carpet shot should be pretty easy to fake.

Well, that wraps it up! Cannes is definitely crashable if you’re in-the-know, and now, you are.

My trip to Cannes was sponsored by Stella Artois, but the ideas and opinions expressed in the article are 100 percent my own.

8 insane skydiving mishaps (videos)

by Gadling Staff on

The heart-racing jump from a plane is supposed to end with a solid landing and a drive home. Skydivers preach safety, but there are times when the worst happens — often by no fault of the skydiver. The following skydiving mishaps all end in ways other than intended. Remember — if you’re going to jump out of a plane, be sure to get thorough training.

Warning: some of the clips are graphic. We’ve placed the worst ones at the end.

This skydiver comes in way too fast for a landing and goes tumbling across a field.

Although both of this skydiver’s parachutes fail, this landing looks worse that it is. Though he hits the ground hard, he emerges with nothing more than a scratch on his neck.

This water-and-skydiving highlights reel shows that water and skydiving really do not go together.

This silent film showcases a hard landing from a skydiver’s perspective.

Another hard landing from the view of a helmet camera. Watching the slow-motion replay explains precisely why this landing was unsuccessful.

Proceed at your own risk for the rest of the videos. You’ve been warned.

2009 was a relatively safe year for air travel

by Scott Carmichael on

Yes – I know 2009 is not over for everyone just yet, but assuming nothing bad happens tonight, we’ll be able to say farewell to a year that was relatively safe for air travel.

In 2009, there were 111 accidents involving commercial aircraft. Of those accidents, 20 were fatal to one or more passengers.

The average from the past ten years was 135 accidents, 28 of which were fatal. Looking at the figures for the past three years, air travel is amazingly safe – only one accident for every 1.7 million flights.

In 2009, there were several major accidents – the largest of course involving Air France flight 447 which dropped into the ocean 350 miles off the coast of Brazil. The cause of this crash is still under investigation, and the black box has not been retrieved.

In the United states, the worst accident happened back in February when a Colgan Air turbo prop crashed into a Buffalo home, killing all 49 people on board, plus one person on the ground. The Buffalo crash has thankfully helped create some more attention for pilot working conditions, and improved training.

Of course, the Hudson river incident is the one that will probably stick with us the longest.

We were just 15 days into 2009 when Captain Chesley Sullenberger ditched his US Airways Airbus A320 into the Hudson river. Everyone on board was able to evacuate the plane, and with just a few minor injuries, this accident was a fantastic piece of news for an otherwise gloomy and depressing January. This accident also showed the power of social media, as Twitter was the source of the first news and photos from the crash.

(Sources: NLR-Air Transport Safety Institute / Telegraaf)

A380 flies to Antarctica for New Year’s 2010

by Andrew Evans on

This New Year’s Eve, Qantas will be taking one of their super swank A380’s to Antarctica. Seats are for sale to the masses starting (checking watch) NOW. This special flight is the first time the double-decker jumbo jet has ever flown this far south, let alone to Antarctica. The plane will take off in Sydney and pick up in Melbourne before spending four hours doing low, figure-eight patterns over the icy, white expanses of the seventh continent. (That sounds really, really cool but also sounds kind of like landing at Heathrow in winter.) Passengers will get to greet the “dawn” of 2010 (remember, the sun doesn’t set) and revel in the rare and incredible view of the southern polar summer without packing a coat.

If you don’t catch the inaugural New Year’s flight, there will be a repeat A380 flight on January 24th or you can take your honey on a boring old split-level Boeing 747 for Valentine’s Day 2010.

One is loath to mention–but must–the doomed sightseeing Air New Zealand Flight 901 of two score and three days ago, which smashed into Antarctica’s highest mountain, leaving shattered champagne glasses icily scattered across the coldest place on earth. There, I mentioned it.

These one-time Qantas flights can be ticketed with their travel agency partners at Antarctica Sightseeing Tours.

Air Traffic Controller chatting with his girlfriend during Hudson chopper crash

by Scott Carmichael on

The plane / chopper crash this past weekend in New York was tragic on many levels – the wife of one of the tourists killed in the crash decided to go shopping instead of taking the sightseeing trip, the pilot of the chopper was in the middle of preparing for his wedding, and now some more shocking news is being released.

Apparently, the air traffic controller in charge of that portion of airspace was on the phone with his girlfriend during the crash, and if that wasn’t enough – his supervisor was nowhere to be found, even though FAA regulations stipulate that he should have been in the building at all times.

The NTSB, who is in charge of the investigation, said that the two controllers “seriously deviated from their assignments at the time of the collision”.

The two have been placed on administrative leave, pending the investigation, and will likely be fired. The FAA was quick to point out that the behavior of the two controllers did not play a direct role in the crash.

A preliminary probe into the accident has uncovered that the pilot of the plane was told to contact the Newark tower, but never did. What part (if any) that played in the crash is unknown, but it obvious that there may have been many factors that could have prevented this horrible accident.