The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has launched its 71st edition, taking place on June 17–21, 2024 in Cannes, France. Among the planned innovations for next year, a breadth of new initiatives and pass types will provide a balance of opportunities for more people to attend the Festival in June. 

In a new initiative that prioritizes supporting underrepresented and underserved communities to attend the Festival, any organization will be eligible to apply for complimentary passes with priority given to registered charities, not-for-profit and diverse-owned organizations. In total, €1m (some $1,087,000) worth of complimentary passes will be provided, with allocations based on an eligibility scoring system. Frank Starling, chief DEI Officer, Lions, said, “This is about driving equity and increasing accessibility so that everyone in the global creative community has the opportunity to attend and benefit from the progress-driving possibilities that Cannes Lions brings on both a personal and business level.” Applications for the initiative will open in December. 

Additional pass options will be offered for 2024. These include a Start-Up Pass, which will provide smaller businesses and individuals with an opportunity to access the Festival. A new Connector Pass will also be available for attendees focused on networking. Simon Cook, CEO, Lions, said, “We’re constantly evolving the Cannes Lions offer to meet the changing needs of our diverse audience. We’re committed to providing greater access to Cannes Lions, and addressing the different needs and circumstances of our global community.”

This week Cannes Lions has also opened its annual call for content which welcomes proposals from anyone, anywhere. Applications will be accepted until January 5, 2024. Jenni Middleton, editor in chief & SVP content, Lions, said, “Creativity can come from anywhere. Our open call for content ensures that we provide a global platform and that’s why we want our platforms to be open to as many voices as possible to come in.” 

Content and activations at the 2024 Festival will continue to double down on creativity, with the last day of the Festival once again dedicated to bringing the focus onto the work. Additionally, with analysis from the 2023 Festival showing that “Creative Impact” was the most highly rated content stream, next year’s agenda will build on this and continue to provide the business case for creativity, ensuring that the global community leaves with the tools and evidence they need to connect creative and marketing departments to the board room. 

Next year will see the continuation of the Lions Scholarship. Designed to support the next generation of talent, the scholarship offers 10 young people from around the world a fully funded place on the Cannes Lions Brand Marketers and Creative Academies, which take place during the Festival in June. Kateryna Kononenko, who was part of the 2023 scholarship program, said the Academy had “elevated her as a brand marketer.” Describing the experience, she said, “It’s intense. It’s emotional. It’s unimaginably insightful and inspiring.”

Additionally, next year, the Festival will welcome its 10th cohort of women onto its fully funded talent accelerator program for women, See It Be It. The program was founded in 2014 by Cannes Lions with the mission to achieve equal gender representation of creative directors and leaders across the global industry. To date, 124 women have taken part in See It Be It, and many alumni have progressed into leadership positions, won Lions Awards and served as Cannes Lions jurors. Applications for the program are open until January 8, 2024.

Submissions into the Cannes Lions Awards will open on January 18, 2024. Recently announced was the launch of the Luxury & Lifestyle Lions, which recognizes the significant transformation and disruption to the creative marketing of brands in the luxury space. As part of the updates to next year’s Awards, the Mobile Lions will be retired.