Cannes Lions To Hold 2021 Event Online Only

The organisers of Cannes Lions have announced that the 2021 festival will be fully digital, running from 21-25 June. The organisers had earlier announced that it would be holding a physical event this year in France as usual.
The move marks the second consecutive cancellation of the physical event of the festival due to the pandemic.
Philip Thomas, chairman at Lions, said that over the last year the festival had been “consulting with customers“ and working on its plans, which had led to this decision, The Drum reported.
“We are now able to move fully to this format for 2021 – which will have all the celebration, inspiration and participation of Cannes Lions – to unite the global community virtually during Cannes Lions Live this June,“ added Thomas.
This has included the development of Cannes Lions Live as part of its new Lions Membership platform which is set to launch in May. The year-round subscription-only platform has been created to unite the global creative community through access to inspiration, learning and creative resources.
All Lions members will receive complimentary access to this year’s Cannes Lions Live with their subscription fee – including live awards results, analysis, and commentary, inspirational sessions, immersive community experiences, and a dedicated ‘creativity on demand’ channel.
Lions managing director Simon Cook said: “Cannes Lions Live will also signal the return of the Lions awards. After the benchmark of the awards was paused last year, we want to be able to give our community the chance to immerse themselves in the creative work once again.
“We’ll be championing the work on a huge scale – tracking progress throughout the week, analysing the winners, delivering insights, identifying new talent – it’s the return of the benchmark and a moment for the industry to reflect but also look forward.“