Cannes Film Festival Finale Rocked by Power Outage, Arson Suspected

A massive power outage cast a shadow over the final day of the Cannes Film Festival, threatening to dim the glitz of the Palme d’Or ceremony. Southeastern France woke to darkness Saturday morning after a high-voltage line collapsed, leaving 160,000 households in the Alpes-Maritimes region without electricity. The blackout, which followed a suspicious fire at an electrical substation near Cannes, sparked police investigations into possible arson.

Laurent Hottiaux, prefect of Alpes-Maritimes, didn’t mince words, condemning the 'serious acts of damage' to the region’s power grid and vowing to hunt down the culprits. By 3 p.m., power was restored, and beachfront speakers roared back to life, met with cheers from relieved locals. The festival’s Palais des Festivals switched to an independent power supply, ensuring the show would go on.

The outage caused chaos beyond the red carpet. Traffic lights in Cannes and nearby Antibes failed, snarling city centers. Shops along the iconic Croisette shuttered, and food kiosks went cash-only. Train services ground to a halt, and screenings at the Cineum venue were briefly paused. Yet, festival organizers remained unfazed, confirming that all events, including the star-studded Closing Ceremony, would proceed as planned.

Tonight’s Palme d’Or race is heating up, with films like Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value and Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident vying for the top prize. As the festival wraps, the spotlight isn’t just on the winners but on the mystery of who—or what—tried to pull the plug on Cannes’ grand finale.