Cannes season begins

By noon in Paris on April 9, Cannes had already told the film business who needs a tuxedo in May and the advertising business who needs a beach badge in June. The 79th Cannes Film Festival runs May 12 to May 23, 2026, and Cannes Lions runs June 22 to June 26 in the same city. (festival-cannes.com) (canneslions.com) (cannes.com) The first date moves actors, directors, sales agents, publicists, and jewelers. The second date moves chief marketing officers, agency chiefs, creators, and brand teams into the Palais des Festivals on Boulevard de la Croisette. (festival-cannes.com) (canneslions.com) (cannes.com) Cannes works like a two-month relay race. A film can premiere in May, put an actor on every red carpet photo wire that week, and then give the same luxury houses and image-makers a fresh client list for June meetings with advertisers and creators. (indiewire.com) (canneslions.com) The film side is not a normal trade show. Cannes Film Festival president Iris Knobloch and general delegate Thierry Frémaux unveiled the 2026 Official Selection in Paris on April 9 for the festival’s 79th edition, which is the slate that decides who gets Competition slots, red carpet premieres, and press attention on the Riviera. (festival-cannes.com) (variety.com) The names in that lineup become a travel map for May. Trade outlets said this year’s selection is packed with auteur directors including Nicolas Winding Refn, Asghar Farhadi, Pedro Almodóvar, Paweł Pawlikowski, László Nemes, and Ryusuke Hamaguchi, which means buyers, critics, and stylists can start circling the same hotels and screening rooms now. (msn.com) (screendaily.com) Cannes has always sold glamour, but the calendar now sells sequencing. The festival website says the full May program and online ticket office details arrive at the beginning of May, so April 9 is the moment when studios, agencies, and luxury brands begin locking cars, suites, fittings, and dinners before the crowd lands. (festival-cannes.com 1) (festival-cannes.com 2) Then the city flips from cinema to commercial creativity without changing buildings. Cannes Lions is held at the same Palais des Festivals and describes itself as the home of the advertising industry’s most prestigious awards, with 2026 passes, speaker programming, networking, and awards all centered on June 22 to June 26. (canneslions.com) (cannes.com) The June pitch is broader than ad awards. Cannes Lions says 2026 will feature speakers from companies including e.l.f. Beauty, Google DeepMind, and Snap, plus a new Creative Brand Lion and a dedicated LIONS Creators beach and studio space for the creator economy. (canneslions.com) That is why the two Cannes events now feel less like separate festivals and more like one long luxury and media season. In May, the prize is cultural prestige on the red carpet; in June, the prize is commercial prestige on stage, with many of the same brands, hotels, chauffeurs, and guest lists serving both. (festival-cannes.com) (canneslions.com) (cannes.com) One more detail shows how tightly the machine is timed: Cannes Lions says the final awards-entry deadline is April 9, the same day the film festival unveiled its lineup. On one Thursday, Cannes told filmmakers whether they were in the movie conversation and told agencies they were out of time to enter the advertising one. (canneslions.com) (festival-cannes.com)