A widespread power outage across southern France left approximately 160,000 homes without electricity on Saturday, including parts of Cannes, which is currently hosting its prestigious annual international film festival.
According to France’s electricity transmission network RTE, the outage began around 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET). In a post on X, RTE said that teams are working to restore electricity as quickly as possible.
“We are looking into the likelihood of a fire being started deliberately,” a spokesperson for the French national gendarmerie told Reuters. No arrests have yet been made in relation to the power outage, the spokesperson added.
The incident coincided with the final day of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, as the town prepared for the much-anticipated closing ceremony scheduled for Saturday evening.
Despite the disruption, screenings have continued with the help of backup power. According to French public broadcaster FranceInfo, the festival has been using generators to maintain operations.
The Palais des Festivals, which hosts the festival’s main events, “switched to an independent power supply, allowing all scheduled events and screenings, including the closing ceremony, to proceed as planned and under normal conditions,” the festival said in a statement, according to Reuters.
Organizers reassured the public that the outage would not impact the awards presentation. “No worries” that the power outage will affect the closing ceremony, festival representatives told CNN affiliate BFMTV.
Two Saturday morning screenings were briefly affected for about five minutes but soon resumed, according to the organizers.
