Power is coming back on in the city of Cannes, as of 15.30 CEST, ahead of the film festival’s closing ceremony at 18.40 today. Several buildings
Power is coming back on in the city of Cannes, as of 15.30 CEST, ahead of the film festival’s closing ceremony at 18.40 today.
Several buildings outside of the Palais, and video screen installations, are now operational again; although many elsewhere in the city are still without power.
An outage at around 10.00 CEST this morning shut off power across the city, for around five hours.
“Malicious acts” of vandalism caused the power outage, according to the local police force for the Alpes-Maritimes region; with the lack of power left some festival-goers unable to access their online tickets.
The festival says it is planning to proceed with its closing awards ceremony this evening at 18.40 CEST. However, most establishments across the town have been without power for most of the day, including hotels where guests attending the ceremony would be getting ready.
Local news broadcaster France3 has reported that “according to the Alpes-Maritimes gendarmerie… one of the two malicious acts that caused the power outage was an ‘arson attack on a high-voltage substation’ in the commune of Tanneron.”
France3 reports that criminal identification technicians are on site, and the research unit of the Draguignan commune has taken charge of the incident.
The broadcaster adds that the origin of the second malicious act remains unknown.
160,000 homes were without power in the western Alpes-Maritimes region; while transport was heavily affected, with traffic lights out across the town and significant delays on rail services for much of the day, including to and from Paris.
RTE, which manages the electricity network for the region, said at 14.30 CEST that it is working on resolving the issue.
The Palais des Festivals is continuing to host screenings, press conferences and other events, due to an “independent power supply”, according to the festival; several outlets are reporting that the Palais is powered by three generators.
However, France3 reports that some festivalgoers were unable to access online tickets, as internet was cut off across Cannes. The broadcaster reports that a member of festival staff outside the Palais has said only guests with tickets saved to their phones can access screenings; those unable to access their online tickets are being directed to join the rush queue.
A screening of Oliver Laxe’s Competition title Sirât was briefly interrupted by the power cut, before it was able to resume.
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