UPDATED: Cannes Lions cancelled in 2020, to resume in 2021
Cannes Lions announces that the annual Festival of Creativity will not take place in October as previously planned. The next edition of the Festival will run June 21-25, 2021.
The decision follows in-depth consultations with festival’s partners and customers and reflects the unprecedented societal, health and economic challenges currently facing the world, as well as our desire to remove any uncertainty about the running of the awards and event for our partners and customers.
Philip Thomas, Chairman, Cannes Lions, commented:
“Cannes Lions at its core has always been about creativity and the Lions. We realise that the creative community has other challenges to face, and simply isn’t in a position to put forward the work that will set the benchmark. The marketing and creative industries, in common with so many others, are currently in turmoil, and it’s clear that we can play our small part by removing all speculation about the Festival this year. We have tried to make our decisions as early as possible to give the industry total clarity on the situation, and that is why we are announcing this move today.”
Simon Cook, Managing Director, Cannes Lions, added:
“We all look ahead to a more positive time – right now, Cannes Lions will continue to bring the global creative community together and provide inspiration where we can find it. Our recent call for inspirational creative stories from around the world has already garnered hundreds of accounts of our community uniting and showing progress in this crisis. We believe firmly that the Lions continue to offer valuable recognition to that community and we look forward to celebrating and honouring the work in 2021, when the world will hopefully feel more stable, and our community can give their work the focus it deserves.”
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UPDATE: Due to Covid-19, Cannes Lions secured end of October to run the 2020 edition
Cannes Lions announced the festival will not take place in June as previous planned and that organizers engaged the contingency plans for October dates.
Philip Thomas, Chairman, Cannes Lions, commented:
“The global situation is dynamic and changing rapidly, we felt it was critical to provide visibility on June as soon as possible. We will continue to liaise closely with our customers as we develop our plans.”
Simon Cook, Managing Director, Cannes Lions, added:
“Our community is facing unprecedented challenges and collaboration has never been more important. We are focussed now on planning the festival – and our beating heart, the Lions – to ensure our community is able to recognise the extraordinary work it contributes to business, organisations and society.”
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Cannes Lions provided an update on its contingency planning for the Festival, in light of the evolving global situation regarding Covid-19.
The Festival is still scheduled to take place, as planned, from 22-26 June in Cannes, France. Its organizers will continue to monitor the situation closely and follow all guidance from health and government officials and remain fully committed to ensuring the health, safety and well-being of our customers, employees, sponsors and partners.
The Festival, working closely with the Mayoral office of Cannes and the French Authorities, has secured alternative dates of 26-30 October 2020, if changing circumstances require us to postpone the event from June. If the postponement will go ahead, festival´s organizers will make an announcement no later than 15 April 2020, sharing weekly updates ahead of any announcement date.
Irrespective of the timing of the Festival, the organizers underlined the fact that “we want to reassure the global creative community that we are fully committed to awarding Lions in 2020: all entries will still be judged and awarded by our global juries. As things stand, anyone who is submitting a Lions entry for 2020 should follow the existing process and timeline. If anything about that process changes, we will issue a further announcement”
Simon Cook, Managing Director, Cannes Lions, commented:
As we stand today, all of our plans are proceeding as scheduled and we are still working towards Cannes Lions 2020 taking place as planned on 22 June. However, as the global situation is evolving constantly, we want to be open about our contingency plans. We have consulted with our customers and partners and have prepared accordingly by putting measures in place to allow flexibility, should we need it. As always, the safety of all those involved is our utmost priority, and any decision we take will reflect this.
Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is the world’s leading celebration of creativity in communications. Founded in 1954, the Festival takes place every June in Cannes, France. As the most prestigious international annual advertising and communications awards, entries from all over the world are showcased and judged at the Festival.
The five-day Festival is the only truly global meeting place for professionals working in advertising and communications. Attendees from nearly 100 countries come to experience five days of workshops, exhibitions, screenings, master classes and high-profile seminars presented by renowned worldwide industry leaders.
Winning companies receive the highly coveted Lion trophy, a global benchmark of creative excellence, for Brand Experience & Activation, Creative Business Transformation, Creative Data, Creative Effectiveness, Creative eCommerce, Creative Strategy, Design, Digital Craft, Direct, Entertainment, Film, Film Craft, Glass: The Lion for Change, Health & Wellness, Industry Craft, Innovation, Media, Mobile, Music, Outdoor, Pharma, PR, Print & Publishing, Radio & Audio, Sport, Social & Influencer, Sustainable Development Goals, Titanium Lions.