This months top entertainment

With no shortage of unmissable entertainment to see, hear and experience, we’ve got the download on the top choices.

MTV Video Music Awards

This year’s TV Video Music Awards is the 36th instalment of the annual event, but for the very first time the awards will be broadcasted live. Taking place at the Prudential Centre in New Jersey, the awards will be hosted by comedian, actor and best-selling author Sebastian Maniscalco. Maniscalco was named “Comedian of the Year” by Billboard magazine in 2018 and was included on Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-paid comedians in 2017 and 2018. The awards honour the world’s leading talent in the music video medium.

Venice International Film Festival

Venice is a fairy-tale city of glittering canals, Renaissance cathedrals, and charming local shops. Consistently named the best film festival in the world, it takes place from 28 August until 7 September. This international festival is the ideal place to gorge on silver-screen wonders, while enjoying a feast of pizza, pasta, gelato and wine. You are sure to spot at least a few A-list celebrities while in town, and the films are screened in a cluster of state-of-the-art, purpose-built cinemas. Most films are shown three or four times, so there will be plenty of opportunities to see your top choices.

Cowes Week

The oldest and largest annual sailing regatta in the world and a key feature of the British sporting calendar, Cowes Week includes an eight-day schedule of events from 10-17 August, combining competitive racing and fun for the 8,000 competitors racing and 100,000 spectators. One of the UK’s longest-running sporting events, up-to 40 races take place each day, as well as a host of enriching social events. Competitors range from Olympic- and world-class professionals to weekend sailors.

Monterey Car Week

From 9-11 August, lovers of rare models, exotics and concept cars head to Northern California for the world’s premier auto exhibition, Monterey Car Week. This special automotive show is full of exciting events, auto shows, rallies, concours and car auctions that end at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Beginning in 1950, a highlight of the Concours d’Eleganceis the Tour d’Elegance, a slow-moving museum of vintage cars that parades along the Monterey Peninsula’s famed 17-mile drive. The finale of the Concours d’Elegance is the competition among different classes of classic autos—including Prewar Preservation, which features cars that have never been restored, and the Postwar Sports class, which showcases famous race cars.