Cannes Lions 2024: Guide to the Best Events, Parties & Insights!

Hosted each year in the iconic setting of the French Riviera, Cannes Lions is the festival dedicated to exploring creativity in the advertising, marketing and communications industries.

Attended by some 19,000 professionals, Cannes Lions provides a unique opportunity for founders, agency representatives, journalists, thought leaders and more to share their own views on the trajectory of the sector, and recognise the groundbreaking innovation in the industry today.

Cannes Lions isn’t only a chance to connect with other leaders in the industry, but to keep our fingers firmly on the pulse. We’ll be gathering key insights, trends and projections, and understanding how these might impact the market for our clients and talent network.

For those new to Cannes Lions, it can though be a daunting event! So, for those newcomers we have tried to offer a little advice on what to expect.

What’s Happening at Cannes Lions 2024

The Cannes Lions Awards is made up of nine tracks and 30 specialist awards, recognising those influencing the next generation of creative industries. It isn’t solely about the new and emerging – it’s equally about celebrating the work of today’s leading brands and individuals.

With dozens of parties and over 200 content sessions, Cannes Lions boasts one of the most prolific programmes for advertising, communications and marketing professionals to explore.

Events span across deep-dive discussions on some of the most pressing challenges businesses face today, to happy hours that give guests the chance to network and build connections over endless bottles of rose…so expect to come home exhausted, inspired and with new friends and business connections from around the world!

For our team, the festival is a prime opportunity to get a real-time view of what’s around the corner, and how leaders are helping to shape the future of these core sectors.

“Cannes Lions is a great place to take a temperature check on the industry. We can discover how brands and talent are adjusting to change, the impact technology, the economy and global affairs are having on businesses, hot-button topics like AI, Web3, ESG, culture – and other trends and projections. It’s an invaluable festival full to the brim with knowledge.” – Alice Weightman, Founder & CEO

If you don’t have a pass to attend the main event, don’t worry the Promenade de la Croisette is packed with cabana’s hosted by the leading global tech giants, media agencies and corporations offering daily discussions, drinks parties and DJs! We have complied a list of events that we have found over the years to be great ….but it’s important to sign up as soon as possible!

• The Wall Street Journal annual has some great speakers WSJ House
• Pinterest is the perfect place for creative minds Pinterest 
• ICCO & Worldcom can be found at the Little Black Beach (LBB) Worldcom & ICCO 
• The official sponsor of Cannes Lions PWC 
• The Little Black Beach has a fabulous line up of speakers LBB 
• Havas Café has roundtables, panels and cocktails Havas 
• Influencer Marketing is the big topic at IZEA 
• Fantastic events for The Marketing Society members The Marketing Society 
• Meet with Taboola on their rooftop for their happy hour party Taboola Happy Hour 
• Join the Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance for an interesting breakfast discussion Cannes Breakfast Meet-Up on Sustainability & Advertising 
• Sport Beach is back again exploring sport, creativity & culture Sport Beach 2024 
• Explore ideas and innovations at WPP Beach 
• Part of WPP, this is the place to discuss all things media Group M Rooftop 
• The exclusive launch of the Brands&Culture Global Event Series Brands & Culture Launch party 
• Adtech and cocktails at Ogury 
• Accenture Song explores the fusion of technology and creativity Accenture Song 
• Join the FT and Aston Martin Aramco F1 team for cocktails and lunch Lunch with the FT 
• Interesting discussions around 21st century rituals The Ritualicious Lunch 
• The place to discover creativity and innovation RTL Beach 
• Goals House is the place for innovative thinkers and industry leaders Goals House 
• The Equity Lounge will explore the Gender Gap and Equity The Female Quotient
• Also worth mentioning: the Carlton Hotel is a great spot to ‘bump’ into people, but you need to book months in advance for breakfast, lunch, or dinner reservations. The Martinez Hotel is also great, and you are more likely to find a table there. Cannes is not Cannes without a yacht party on the marina, so if you get an invite, definitely head down.
• If you aren’t totally spent after a day of events, networking, an evening of DJs and rosé, and you want to go on till the early hours, head to the Gutter Bar. It will be fun, but you may regret it the next day!

If you know of more places or parties or want to be featured, then do get in touch! 

What We Hope to Take Away 

It’s no surprise that a number of key topics are on the rota for this year’s Cannes Lions Festival.

Exploring the impact of AI is likely to be a significant talking point for most brands. TikTok and burgeoning social media regulation could also feature heavily, as well as topics like ESG and climate impact, data, a cookie-less era, and brand reputation. 

Here’s just some of what our team are looking to discuss: 

“For me, this year is all about the big banner topic: elections. Around 1.5 billion people could end up casting their votes in 2024, and how this impacts the world of corporate affairs, sustainability legislation, and marcomms will be a big focus for our clients. I’ll be keeping my ear to the ground for fresh takes.” – Katie Simpson, Head of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability

“It’s an exciting time in the industry – advancements in tech, new platforms and channels, increasing expectations from talent and customers. That all presents obvious opportunities and obvious challenges. I want to hear how brands are navigating this shifting media landscape, and evolving without compromising their identity.” – Helena Ranger, Senior Consultant

“Many businesses are looking to overseas expansions now, whether that’s on a smaller or larger scale. So I’ll be interested in hearing more about how brands are making their cross-regional operations work, and how leaders and talent can foster a healthy, joined-together culture across hubs.” – Camille Chevallier, Consultant

Let’s Meet Up

If you’re attending Cannes Lions 2024 in person, we’d love to see you there. Do drop us a line info@hansonsearch.com