Advertising and marketing confab Cannes Lions will be fully digital this year, running from 21-25 June.
The move marks the second consecutive cancellation of the physical event due to the pandemic.
Philip Thomas, Cannes Lions Chairman, commented: “Over the last year, we’ve been consulting with our customers and working on our plans, including the development of Cannes Lions Live as part of the new Lions Membership platform. We are now able to move fully to this format for 2021 – which will have all the celebration, inspiration and participation of Cannes Lions – to unite the global community virtually during Cannes Lions Live this June.”
Simon Cook, Managing Director of the event added: “Cannes Lions Live will also signal the return of the Lions awards. After the benchmark of the awards was paused last year, we want to be able to give our community the chance to immerse themselves in the creative work once again. We’ll be championing the work on a huge scale – tracking progress throughout the week, analysing the winners, delivering insights, identifying new talent – it’s the return of the benchmark and a moment for the industry to reflect but also look forward.”
Additional program information is due to be released over the coming weeks.
Today’s announcement, which comes as France is in lockdown and Europe is experiencing renewed waves of the virus, will cast further doubt over the viability of a physical Cannes Film Festival, which is due to take place in early July.
Next week, the annual MipTV gathering will be staged online.
