Yahoo News Cannes Lions Advertising Festival Canceled By Coronavirus
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The Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The advertising industry festival originally said it planned to move from June to October 26-30, but organizers have now decided to abandon the event altogether following the escalating global COVID-19 crisis. Cannes Lions will return June 21-25, 2021.
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In a statement, Cannes Lions said: “As the impact from COVID-19 continues to be felt across the world on consumers and our customers across the marketing, creative and media industries, it has become clear to us our customers’ priorities have shifted to the need to protect people, to serve consumers with essential items and to focus on preserving companies, society and economies.
Chairman Philip Thomas added: “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.”
Cannes Lions’ cancellation follows wide-spread disruption to major events in the French town. MipTV was axed this week, while the Cannes Film Festival was also postponed from May to June/July. Cannes Lions decision to cancel in October will raise questions about the Mipcom TV festival, which is scheduled for 12-15 October. “Let’s get back to business this October,” the Mipcom website currently reads.
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