Cannes Lions has made contingency plans for its International Festival of Creativity, in light of the evolving global situation regarding Covid-19.
The Festival is still scheduled to take place, as planned, from June 22-26 in Cannes, France. But if health and safety concerns warrant it, Cannes Lions organizers are prepared to postpone the event, having secured through the Mayoral office of Cannes and the French authorities alternative dates of October 26-30. If the decision is made to reschedule the Festival, it will be announced no later than April 15. Weekly updates will be shared ahead of any announcement date.
Cannes Lions organizers continue to monitor the situation closely, with guidance from health and government officials. The priority is ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of customers, employees, sponsors and partners.
A Cannes Lions release read in part, “Irrespective of the timing of the Festival, we want to reassure the global creative community that we are fully committed to awarding Lions in 2020: all entries will still be judged and awarded by our global juries. As things stand, anyone who is submitting a Lions entry for 2020 should follow the existing process and timeline. If anything about that process changes, we will issue a further announcement.”
Simon Cook, managing director, Cannes Lions, commented: “As we stand today, all of our plans are proceeding as scheduled and we are still working towards Cannes Lions 2020 taking place as planned on 22 June. However, as the global situation is evolving constantly, we want to be open about our contingency plans. We have consulted with our customers and partners and have prepared accordingly by putting measures in place to allow flexibility, should we need it. As always, the safety of all those involved is our utmost priority, and any decision we take will reflect this.”
