Cannes Film Festival Power Outage Caused by Sabotage, Authorities Say

French authorities state that a power outage that disrupted parts of the Cannes Film Festival on May 24 was caused by sabotage, including arson at an electrical substation and damage to a utility pole.

The outage left around 160,000 households in Cannes and surrounding areas without electricity for several hours in the morning.

Power was fully restored by late afternoon, according to The New York Times.

Festival organizers said the disruption was minimal. Backup generators were quickly activated, allowing all scheduled events and screenings, including the closing ceremony, to proceed as planned.

Laurent Hottiaux, the state representative for the Alpes-Maritimes area, which includes Cannes, reported that the blackout resulted from “major damage to network systems,” including a fire at a substation and physical damage to a power line support structure.

“All resources are being mobilized to identify, track down, arrest, and bring to justice the perpetrators of these acts,” he said.

According to Le Monde, the fire broke out around 2 a.m. at the Tanneron substation about 12 kilometers northwest of central Cannes. Seven fire engines responded, and the fire was extinguished by 7 a.m.

Authorities also reported damage to a transmission line in Villeneuve-Loubet, where three of four legs of a support structure were cut.

Local prosecutors have opened an investigation into the sabotage. Officials did not confirm whether the Cannes Film Festival was a specific target.

The New York Times noted a similar incident of arson on railway lines during the opening day of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

No one was held responsible, but suspicion fell on “ultra-left” anti-capitalist groups that aimed to disrupt state functions.

Shortly before the start of the Olympics in July 2024, French authorities detained a Russian chef allegedly working for Russian intelligence and planning provocations in Paris. A former Russian soldier was also arrested for allegedly preparing to detonate an improvised explosive device in a store.