The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has opened its doors for the 66th year today for five days of learning, inspiration and networking.
Cannes Lions Chairman, Philip Thomas, said, “The breadth and diversity of the festival this year – from stage talks to the work – demonstrates the increasingly global nature of creativity and the ever-growing Cannes Lions community. Every corner of the industry now comes to Cannes to find out how the power of creativity can build their businesses and drive growth for the future.”
Over 300 content sessions, covering the biggest issues and trending topics affecting the industry, and the world at large, take place on the Cannes Lions stages. Global stars from across the breadth of entertainment, join thought-leaders, political influencers and academics, to discuss and debate creativity, alongside creative industry legends – like David Droga, Founder and Creative Chairman, Droga5; Sir John Hegarty, Founder, The Garage Soho; and Madonna Badger, Chief Creative Officer, Badger & Winters. From the entertainment side, speakers include composer Max Richter, actors Kerry Washington and Jeff Goldblum and writer-producers Shonda Rhimes and Kenya Barris. Tom Odell and Wycelf Jean will both perform live on the Palais Terrace Stage.
Diversity, inclusion and culture will be widely discussed in sessions such as Participant Media’s ‘Defining Art + Activism’ with Alfonso Cuarón, Oscar-winning director of “ROMA” and activist Ai-jen Poo; and ‘The 50+ Goldmine: Sparking Creativity’s Coming of Age’ with Arianna Huffington, Bozoma St John and Maye Musk. John Legend, multiple Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, record producer and activist, will also speak alongside Procter & Gamble chief brand officer, Marc Pritchard, in the session “Reimagine Creativity Through Love and Humanity”, followed by a live performance from Legend.
Over 30,000 pieces of creative and effective work from 89 countries, in 27 distinct creative disciplines, will be awarded and celebrated at the Festival, setting the global benchmark for creativity and effectiveness. More than 400 jury members, from over 50 countries, have now convened in Cannes to judge the work, which will be celebrated across five evening Awards Shows. First shortlists have now been announced on the Cannes Lions information and insight subscription portal The Work.
CLX – Connect. Learn. Experience – is a new initiative for 2019. Launched in partnership with MediaLink, it’s where the world’s leading marketers will meet, learn from, experience, and do business with global entertainment experts and content creators.
On Thursday, the Brand Marketers’ Creative Summit, supported by CBSi and TIME, is where industry experts and CMOs will come together to accelerate creative effectiveness for the year ahead. Additionally, there are C-Suite Training Programmes for CMOs of the world’s biggest brands and the Cannes Lions School will welcome over 450 up-coming talent from 70 countries to take part in the Young Lions competitions (for those under 30).
China Curated, in partnership with Tencent, offers a new, curated programme for Chinese delegates, including translated speaker content from global and Chinese creatives, networking sessions, tours of the work, and exclusive talks with Chinese jury members to uncover how and why creative work wins Lions.
Alongside the main content in the Palais, the Cannes Lions fringe hosts a vast programme of events, from beach-side talks to bespoke networking. The Inkwell Beach, hosted by Cannes Can: Diversity Collective (CC:DC), is the festival hub that celebrates the contributions of communities of colour and underrepresented communities within the industry.
Cannes Lions is committed to campaigning for creativity as a powerful force for good in the world and is partnering with the UN to support the Sustainable Development Goals through a range of creative initiatives at the Festival. The Goals House in Cannes is a focal point for the strategic-thinking needed to make the United Nations’ Global Goals a reality.
Since its first outing in 1954, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has been bringing the creative communications industry together every year at its one-of-a-kind event in Cannes to learn, network and celebrate.
