French authorities reported on Saturday that a power outage in the Cannes area, which briefly disrupted the film festival, was the result of acts of sabotage, including arson at a substation and damage to a transmission tower.
Approximately 160,000 homes in Cannes and the surrounding region experienced power loss for several hours, according to RTE, France’s electrical grid operator. Power was fully restored by late afternoon. The outage interrupted some festival screenings, but organizers quickly switched to their own generators. They confirmed that the closing ceremony, during which the Palme d’Or is awarded, would proceed as planned.
Laurent Hottiaux, the state representative for the Alpes-Maritimes area, stated that the outage was due to “major damage to network installations” near Cannes, including the arson attack and damage to the transmission tower. “All resources are being mobilized to identify, track down, arrest and bring to justice the perpetrators of these acts,” he noted in a statement.
RTE indicated that the outage began with an overnight fire at a substation west of Cannes. Firefighters managed to control the blaze, and electricity was restored by redirecting power from other lines. However, around 10 a.m., the company detected an unstable pylon on a separate line east of the city, which was at risk of collapsing, necessitating another power cut in the area.
Éric Ciotti, a right-wing lawmaker representing the Alpes-Maritimes, expressed the need for “transparency and fast answers” regarding the incidents, sharing a photo of the leaning electrical pylon on social media.
Local prosecutors have opened investigations into the sabotage, but authorities did not specify whether the acts were intentionally aimed at the Cannes Film Festival, a globally recognized event symbolizing French cultural prestige.
The disruptions were reminiscent of previous incidents, such as last year’s arson attacks on rail lines that caused temporary chaos during the opening day of the Paris Summer Olympics. At that time, authorities suspected “ultraleft” anticapitalist groups, although no suspects were identified.
Despite the outages, disruptions to the film festival were minimal. Organizers stated they promptly switched to an independent power supply, ensuring that all scheduled events, including the closing ceremony, continued as planned. Some screenings at one theater were “temporarily suspended.”
One festivalgoer reported that the screening of “Sound of Falling” was interrupted an hour and a half in when the screen went dark, but a backup generator restored power 20 minutes later, allowing the screening to resume.
The power outage also affected daily life in Cannes, a popular tourist destination during the festival. Dark traffic lights required police intervention to manage traffic flow at busy intersections, while firefighters dealt with numerous elevator malfunctions in the area.
At the city’s clock tower, the hands froze just past 10 o’clock, and several boutiques along the Croisette, a beachfront promenade known for luxury shops, were closed.
When power was restored at one restaurant just before 3 p.m., patrons responded with applause and cheers.