A major power outage struck southeastern France on Saturday, causing traffic disruptions and briefly halting events at the Cannes Film Festival just hours before the prestigious event was set to announce its top honors. Electricity network operator RTE said the blackout affected about 160,000 households across the Alpes-Maritimes department after a high-voltage line fell earlier in the morning. The situation was further complicated by a fire at an electrical substation near Cannes overnight, which had already weakened the local power grid. Festival organizers confirmed that Saturday's early activities were impacted, but said the main venue — the Palais des Festivals — had quickly shifted to an independent power supply to ensure operations continued smoothly. "All scheduled events and screenings, including the Closing Ceremony, will proceed as planned and under normal conditions," the festival said in a statement. "At this stage, the cause of the outage has not yet been identified. Restoration efforts are underway." Nonetheless, the outage briefly suspended screenings at Cineum, one of the festival's satellite venues. Traffic lights in parts of Cannes and the nearby city of Antibes stopped working after 10 a.m., causing gridlock and confusion. Most shops along the iconic Croisette promenade closed temporarily, and local vendors were only accepting cash due to network failures. Train services in Cannes also experienced disruptions. Authorities advised residents and visitors to remain cautious while traveling as crews continued efforts to restore power to the affected areas. — Agencies
