Power outage hits Cannes Festival and disrupts traffic in south-east France
About 160,000 households were affected, utility bosses said.
A major power outage has struck south-eastern France, disrupting traffic and briefly halting events at the Cannes Film Festival as the prestigious event prepared to hand out its top prize, the Palme d’Or.
About 160,000 households in the Alpes-Maritimes department lost electricity after a high-voltage line fell on Saturday morning, electricity network operator RTE said on X.
The outage came hours after a fire at an electrical substation near Cannes overnight had already weakened the grid.
Police have opened an investigation into possible arson.
“We are looking into the likelihood of a fire being started deliberately,” said a spokesperson for the French national gendarmerie.
Laurent Hottiaux, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes department, condemned “serious acts of damage to electrical infrastructures”.
“All resources are mobilised to identify, track down, arrest and bring to justice the perpetrators of these acts,” said Mr Hottiaux.
Cannes Film Festival organisers confirmed the outage affected the early activities of Saturday and said the Palais des Festivals – the Croisette’s main venue — had switched to an independent power supply.
“All scheduled events and screenings, including the Closing Ceremony, will proceed as planned and under normal conditions,” the statement said.
“At this stage, the cause of the outage has not yet been identified. Restoration efforts are underway.”
Screenings at the Cineum, one of the festival’s satellite venues, were briefly suspended, the festival added.
Traffic lights in parts of Cannes and the surrounding city of Antibes stopped working after 10am, leading to traffic jams and confusion in city centres.
Most shops along the Croisette remained closed, and local food kiosks were only accepting cash. Train services in Cannes were also disrupted.
Authorities said restoration efforts are ongoing and urged residents to remain cautious during travel.
