Behind the Velvet Ropes of Monaco’s Bal de la Rose, with the Most Venerable Mistress of Ceremonies

Now that the Cannes Film Festival, the F1 Grand Prix de Monaco, and the 2025 AmFAR Gala have all come and gone, the social season is officially underway on the Riviera. Those with a finger on the pulse of the Côte d’Azur summer scene know the outsize role that the Principality of Monaco plays upon this glittering stretch of the Mediterranean. In fact, it began in 1954, when Grace Kelly established the Bal de la Rose as the opening fête of the riviera’s social season—a position it has maintained ever since. Today the Bal is held in the memory of the late Princess, and honors her legacy as an arts and cultural ambassador by directly supporting the Princess Grace Foundation’s grants and awards for emerging artists. 

Each spring, the Bal takes place at Monte-Carlo’s Salle des Étoiles under the patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco. It is presided over by Princess Caroline of Hanover with artistic direction by the legendary designer—and Princess Caroline’s good friend—Christian Louboutin. And, since 1994 France’s most venerable Mistress of Ceremonies, Françoise Dumas, has worked alongside them to bring the benefit to life. 

Over the course of her storied career, Dumas has been a trusted collaborator of likes of LVMH’s Bernard Arnault, the late Karl Lagerfeld (Louboutin’s predecessor as artistic director of the Bal de la Rose), and former French President and First Lady Jacques and Bernadette Chirac. A career characterized by her discretion, grace, and ingenuity has taken Dumas to some of the most sanctified bastions of entertaining: from the French presidential palace to a state dinner at Buckingham Palace hosted by the late Queen Elizabeth II, and the 1996 Met Gala with Arnault and Princess Diana. 

For the 30th Bal de La Rose, Dumas worked closely with Louboutin and the members of the Princely family to realize a shared vision of a Caribbean-inspired fête. “This year, we chose the Caribbean theme because of the music and joyful energy and atmosphere of the Caribbean,” she tells Surface. The theme carried through from the menu—a four-course feast from French-trained Martiniquais chef Marcel Ravin, whose restaurant Blue Bay holds two Michelin stars at the waterfront Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort—to the roster of performers that got the stately society set grooving. 

“We try to host an exquisite evening with beautiful decor, exquisite food, and enchanting music,” continues Dumas. It’s an imperative shared by her collaborator, Louboutin. “Christian is very enthusiastic about the prospect of being able to make people have fun and dance,” she continues. And, indeed, after all-women percussion ensemble Kozéika Panam took to the stage, followed by a carnival performance by Ethnick’97, Prince Albert II, Princess Charlene, and Louboutin themselves all ventured to the dance floor during a live performance of “September” by Al McKay’s Earth, Wind & Fire experience.  

While haute cuisine, culture, and the arts are cornerstones of the event, so too is fashion. The black-tie affair saw all manner of floral and rose-colored frocks from the likes of Dolce & Gabbana (worn by Princess Charlene), Chanel haute couture (worn by Princess Caroline and her daughter Charlotte Casiraghi), Giambattista Valli (selected by Princess Alexandra of Hanover), while innumerable pairs of Louboutins graced the Salle des Étoiles. What’s more, the event’s tombola featured, among other items, a Lady Dior bag—whose mythos Dumas herself established when deputized to pick out a gift to be given by French First Lady Bernadette Chirac to Princess Diana in 1995. 

After a reggaeton-inflected closing DJ set by Parisian-Guadelopean DJ Carla Genus, a crowd of bon vivants decamped downstairs, to legendary nightclub Jimmy’z, for a Dom Pérignon-soaked night of dancing until dawn.