Power outage hits Cannes on the last day of festival

Mayor points to the possibility of sabotage

Cannes and its wider region were hit by a surprise power outage this morning, on the last day of the annual film festival.

The town and some 160,000 homes were impacted, with festival-goers streaming into the streets as screenings and events were cancelled in the Palais. Train services and mobile networks were also affected.

The outage is clearly the result of a coordinated operation. Arson attacks first affected a power plant in the neighbouring Var region on the night of Friday to Saturday. Several pylons were then sawn down in Villeneuve-Loubet, Mougins and Cagnes-sur-Mer, according to the Ministry of the Interior.

Very quickly, emergency teams were in action to get the electricity back in operation.

It’s hard not to think that the outage was intended to bring the Cannes festival to a halt. The closing ceremony is planned to go ahead at 7pm local time (11am EDT), as the Palais was able to call on its emergency generators. The mayor of nearby Mandelieu-La Napoule has mentioned the possibility of an inside job and pointed to the vulnerability of the grid. The outage follows a similar incident in Spain and Portugal.

Favourites for the coveted Palme d’Or this year include The Mastermind, Sirât and Sentimental Value.

(Michael Leahy. Source: franceinfo et al. Photo: Darya Sannikova / Pexels)