Power Outage Disrupts Cannes Film Festival and Traffic in Southeastern France, Arson Suspected
CANNES, France, May 24, 2025 – A major power outage struck southeastern France on Saturday morning, impacting approximately 160,000 households in the Alpes-Maritimes department, including the city of Cannes, where the 78th Cannes Film Festival was concluding with its Palme d’Or ceremony. The blackout, which began around 10 a.m. local time, disrupted traffic, local businesses, and briefly halted festival events, with authorities investigating possible arson as the cause.
The outage, attributed to a fallen high-voltage line and a fire at an electrical substation near Cannes overnight, led to significant disruptions. Traffic lights in Cannes and nearby Antibes stopped functioning, causing widespread traffic jams and confusion in city centers. Most shops along the Croisette remained closed, with food kiosks accepting only cash, and train services in Cannes were also affected. Festival screenings at the Cineum, a satellite venue, were suspended for about five minutes but resumed shortly after. The Palais des Festivals, the festival’s main venue, switched to an independent power supply, ensuring that all scheduled events, including the closing ceremony, proceeded as planned by Saturday evening.
French police and the national gendarmerie are probing “malicious acts” as the potential cause, with reports of arson at a substation and damage to a transmission tower. Laurent Hottiaux, the state representative for Alpes-Maritimes, described the outage as resulting from “major damage to network installations.” No arrests have been made, but RTE, France’s electricity network operator, reported that power was restored by 3 p.m. local time, greeted by cheers from locals as beachfront speakers resumed playing music.
Despite the disruptions, the Cannes Film Festival, running since May 13, continued its closing celebrations, with top Palme d’Or contenders including Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent, and Óliver Laxe’s Sirât. Organizers confirmed to media outlets like CNN and BFMTV that the outage would not affect the evening’s award ceremony. For further coverage, visit apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute official reporting.
