The season of power outages continues in Europe, and this time, a world-famous Film Festival has been disrupted.
A suspicious fire hit the city of Cannes causing a widespread loss of power today — just hours ahead of the festival’s closing ceremony.
New York Post reported:
“Several movies were wiped from the schedule, but the majority of the iconic event, including the final bash, will not be affected because organizers swiftly found an alternative power source.
‘A power outage is currently affecting the city of Cannes and surrounding areas’, the festival said in a statement shared with The Post.”
ARSON behind power outages derailing Cannes Film Festival
France Info sources say ‘malicious acts’ force moviegoers out of morning screening
160K homes left without power pic.twitter.com/vyNFQKmGbA
— RT (@RT_com) May 24, 2025
”’The Palais des Festivals has switched to an independent power supply, allowing all scheduled events and screenings, including the Closing Ceremony, to proceed as planned and under normal conditions’.
‘However, screenings at the Cineum have been temporarily suspended and will resume as soon as power is restored’.”
❗️⚡️ – Power Outage Disrupts Southeast France, Impacts Cannes Film Festival
A power outage struck southeast France on Saturday morning, affecting 160,000 households and disrupting the Cannes Film Festival’s closing ceremony, where the Palme d’Or is awarded.
The blackout,… pic.twitter.com/PkoSOXSO7B
— The Informant (@theinformant_x) May 24, 2025
What caused the widespread outrage has not been identified, but police suspect arson.
“’We are looking into the likelihood of a fire being started deliberately’, said a spokesperson for the French national gendarmerie.”
Le Monde reported:
“Cannes Mayor David Lisnard said that it had been ‘targeted in a criminal act’. The pylon in Villeneuve-Loubet, 15 kilometers to the northeast of the city of Nice, was also sabotaged, with three of its legs found to have been cut, the local prosecutor’s office said.
‘We are looking into the likelihood of a fire being started deliberately’, said a police spokesperson for the French national gendarmerie. In a statement, Laurent Hottiaux, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes department, condemned ‘serious acts of damage to electrical infrastructures’. ‘All resources are mobilized to identify, track down, arrest and bring to justice the perpetrators of these acts’, said Hottiaux.
Cannes Film Festival organizers confirmed the outage affected the early activities of Saturday and said the Palais des Festivals – the Croisette’s main venue – had switched to an independent power supply. ‘All scheduled events and screenings, including the Closing Ceremony, will proceed as planned and under normal conditions’, the statement said. ‘At this stage, the cause of the outage has not yet been identified. Restoration efforts are underway’.”
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