A massive power outage struck France’s Alpes-Maritimes region on Saturday morning, leaving over 160,000 homes without electricity and briefly throwing the Cannes Film Festival into uncertainty just hours before its highly anticipated closing ceremony.
ARSON behind power outages derailing Cannes Film Festival
France Info sources say ‘malicious acts’ force moviegoers out of morning screening
160K homes left without power pic.twitter.com/vyNFQKmGbA
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The blackout, which began around 10:00 a.m. local time, plunged much of southeastern France—including the glitzy resort town of Cannes—into darkness. Traffic signals stopped functioning, several businesses shuttered, and essentials like mobile service and internet were knocked out, leaving both residents and international visitors scrambling.
As per reports, Grid operator RTE confirmed the scale of the disruption, noting that the entire western part of the department had lost power. The exact cause of the outage remains unknown, and an investigation is currently underway.
The incident couldn’t have come at a more delicate time, as global attention was fixed on the Croisette for the culmination of the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Festival organizers responded swiftly, switching the Palais des Festivals—the event’s main venue—to an independent power supply, ensuring that scheduled screenings and the prestigious Palme d’Or presentation would proceed without interruption.
Nonetheless, the disruption was felt. Morning screenings were briefly halted as generators were deployed, and one satellite venue, the Cineum, was forced to suspend shows temporarily. Festivalgoers were left navigating a Cannes momentarily stripped of its usual glamour, with cafes closed, public services down, and digital connectivity lost.
The incident follows growing calls from Spain and Portugal for the European Union to expedite energy interconnection projects with France. Last month, both countries experienced a similar large-scale outage, fueling urgency for improved grid integration across the region.
Despite the turmoil, the show is set to go on. Global audiences are eagerly awaiting the announcement of this year’s Palme d’Or winner from among 22 celebrated films in competition. Standout contenders include It Was Just an Accident by Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi, Norway’s Sentimental Value by Joachim Trier, Richard Linklater’s French homage Nouvelle Vague, and Die My Love from British director Lynne Ramsay.
