A month page is evergreen: it describes what every May looks like on the international calendar, then lists the dated events of the next May with their status.
01Où la saison est concentrée
If the international calendar has a center of gravity it is May. The month opens with the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday and the Met Gala on the first Monday, then New York's spring: Frieze New York, TEFAF New York and the marquee auction weeks at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips in the same ten days. Miami has its Grand Prix in the first week. Then Europe takes over: the Cannes Film Festival for twelve days from the middle of the month, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London in the fourth week, the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este on Lake Como, the Venice Biennale's preview and opening (even years), the Monaco Historic Grand Prix (even years), Roland-Garros beginning in the last week, and the run into the Monaco Grand Prix, now held on the first weekend of June.
The Riviera is the month's axis. Cannes to Monaco is a forty-minute drive and the two festivals are ten days apart; the fortnight between them is the most concentrated stretch of the European year outside London's June. Mille Miglia crosses Italy; Ibiza's season opens; the EBACE business-aviation show fills Geneva.
02Événements majeurs
Semaine par semaine : les événements qui ouvrent chaque semaine du mois, par ordre d'importance décroissante.
May 1–2, 2027Semaine 1
May 3–9, 2027Semaine 2
May 10–16, 2027Semaine 3
May 17–23, 2027Semaine 4
May 24–30, 2027Semaine 5
03Les dix événements fondateurs · Mai 2027
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30 Apr → May 2, 2027Miami Gardens · United States · Motorsport Miami Grand PrixMajeur
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30 Apr → May 1, 2027Louisville · United States · Équestre Kentucky DerbySignificatif
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2 May → May 5, 2027Beverly Hills · United States · Affaires & Finance Milken Institute Global ConferenceSignificatif
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3 MayNew York · United States · Mode The Met GalaMajeur
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11 May → May 22, 2027Cannes · France · Film Cannes Film FestivalDéfinir
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11 May → May 20, 2027New York · United States · Enchères New York Spring Marquee AuctionsMajeur
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14 May → May 17, 2027Salzburg · Austria · Festivals culturels Salzburg FestivalSignificatif
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20 MayCap d'Antibes · France · Philanthropie amfAR Gala CannesMajeur
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21 May → May 23, 2027Cernobbio · Italy · Automobile Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'EsteSignificatif
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23 May → Jun 6, 2027Paris · France · Tennis Roland-GarrosSignificatif
04Destinations importantes
New York for the first fortnight; Cannes and the Riviera for the second half; London from the Chelsea week onward; Venice for the Biennale opening; Lake Como for its one great weekend; Louisville, Miami and Las Vegas for a week each. Monaco is filling by the last days of the month.
05Mouvement géographique
West to east: the month begins in New York and Louisville, crosses to the Riviera by the middle, and ends poised between Cannes, Monaco, London and Paris. This is the migration the site exists to describe — the crowd that leaves the New York auction rooms lands in Cannes, and the crowd that leaves Cannes is in Monaco for the Grand Prix and then in London for Ascot within a fortnight.
06Météo
Cannes in May is mostly warm and bright but has famously rained on the red carpet; Monaco is mild. London is unpredictable, and Chelsea has had both heatwaves and downpours. New York is at its best. Louisville is warm and often wet on Derby day. Venice can be either spring or early summer.
07Les week-ends les plus importants
The first weekend (Derby Saturday, Miami Grand Prix Sunday, Met Gala Monday) and the weekend Cannes closes, which in most years sits two weekends before the Monaco Grand Prix and within days of the Villa d'Este concorso. Chelsea's week and the Roland-Garros opening make the final weekend dense in London and Paris.
12 événements
11 événements
08Où la saison se déplace ensuite
June: the Monaco Grand Prix on the first weekend, then Le Mans, Royal Ascot, Art Basel, Wimbledon's opening and the London season at full strength, with Paris for the Roland-Garros finals and the men's shows, and the first Mediterranean regattas at Saint-Tropez and Porto Cervo.