A major power outage struck southeastern France on Saturday, affecting the Alpes-Maritimes department. Approximately 160,000 households lost electricity after a high-voltage power line fell in the morning, compounding earlier grid problems caused by a fire at an electrical substation near Cannes the previous night.
Cannes Festival Overcomes Blackout, Continues Events As Organizers Ensure Uninterrupted Ceremony Plans
The blackout disrupted activities at the Cannes Film Festival, which was preparing to award its top prize. Festival organizers confirmed that the main venue, Palais des Festivals, switched to an independent power supply to continue operations. While early events and screenings were briefly affected, officials assured that the closing ceremony and all scheduled events would proceed as planned.
Despite the Palais des Festivals maintaining power, some satellite venues such as the Cineum had to temporarily suspend screenings. The festival expressed that restoration efforts were underway, and the cause of the outage remained unclear at the time.
Traffic Chaos, Shop Closures, And Public Transport Disruptions Follow Widespread Power Outage
The outage caused traffic lights to fail in Cannes and nearby Antibes, leading to congestion and confusion on the roads. Many shops along the Croisette were closed, and food vendors were forced to accept cash only. Public transportation, including train services, was also disrupted.
Authorities continued working to restore electricity and urged residents to exercise caution while traveling during the outage. Efforts to repair the damaged power infrastructure were in progress to minimize further disruption to daily life and festival activities.
