Navigating the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity as a Founder

Having only heard of Cannes Lions a year ago, it is difficult to fathom how something so significant has remained largely on the tongues of those who know.

Originally established in 1954 as the International Advertising Film Festival in Venice, the event moved to Cannes in 1984 and over time, has evolved far beyond an awards programme and agency networking event. Today, Cannes Lions is a global gathering of the creative industries, attracting CEOs, CMOs, founders, creatives and directors from some of the world's most influential companies for one week in the South of France.

While the Awards Programme remains at the heart of Cannes Lions, the festival attracts between 12,000 and 15,000 official delegates each year, excluding the thousands who descend on Cannes for the unofficial ecosystem surrounding it. In 2026 alone, more than 1,000 fringe events took place outside the official programme.

For brands, the week presents a significant marketing opportunity. Over the years, Cannes Lions has become an increasingly important fixture in the annual social calendar, bringing together an extraordinary array of industry leaders, talent, celebrities and cultural figures including many who are not officially scheduled to speak and who you may instead surprisingly bump into at a table at La Guerette.

Cannes itself transforms for the week. Beach clubs, hotels, restaurants and villas become temporary brand worlds, with companies competing for attention through immersive activations, conversations, dinners and parties. In many ways, Cannes Lions serves as its own dimension of marketing: an environment where the people creating culture, the people marketing it and the people consuming it all temporarily occupy the same few streets.

While it is tempting to attend everything, it is virtually impossible. With official programming running alongside the fringe events, a significant amount of planning - both physically and mentally is required to ensure you make the most of the week.

And even then, you will inevitably miss something.

You may often hear the advice to simply “go with the flow”, but at Cannes Lions, a little planning can make all the difference. You don't want to miss the opportunity to meet your dream brand because you didn't realise they were a 30-minute walk away from your current activation and the traffic is far too thick to even consider catching an Uber.

My favourite part of Cannes Lions wasn't necessarily the panels or even the parties (though, I certainly had an amazing time) but seeing how brands interpreted the environment around them. For one week, Cannes becomes a playground for some of the world's most influential companies, each competing to create experiences that cut through the noise and bring their brand worlds to life.

A personal favourite of mine was HarbourView Equity Partners. Their 2026 activation saw the company take over an even larger yacht than the previous year, hosting a series of conversations and performances throughout the week.

Of the sessions I attended, Steven Bartlett in conversation with HarbourView founder and CEO Sherrese Clarke Soares was particularly captivating. As a fan of his hugely successful podcast, hearing him share personal insights into his journey and future plans including stories and perspectives that hadn't been shared on the podcast made the conversation feel especially intimate and exclusive.

By evening, the HarbourView yacht transformed into a stage for an impressive programme of live performances. From Fat Joe and Jadakiss to Wyclef Jean, Elmiene, Floetry and Chaka Khan, the calibre of talent was extraordinary and often ended with a drone light display in the background. A phenomenal lineup that demonstrated exactly how Cannes Lions has expanded beyond advertising into a much broader intersection of business, culture and entertainment.

Away from the hustle and bustle of the main strip, CÎROC created an entirely different kind of experience. Taking over a tennis court in the hills, guests were transported by luxury minibuses to a branded oasis centred around relaxation, sport and escapism. The contrast between the intensity of central Cannes and the relative calm of the activation made it particularly memorable. It was a reminder that, sometimes, the most effective way for a brand to stand out is simply to offer people something they didn't realise they needed.

The Female Quotient also hosted its first beach cabana, creating a space for a packed programme of conversations throughout the week. All of the sessions were full and the queue to get in each day was long enough to get sun stroke if waited long enough. The programme featured the likes of Tina Knowles in conversation with AncestryDNA, as well as Ciara and Russell Wilson, Keke Palmer and Oprah.

Cannes Lions is one of those things that is difficult to fully explain so I always advise that you simply have to see it yourself. On paper, it is a festival celebrating creativity in advertising. In reality, it is an entire ecosystem built around ideas, influence, relationships and culture.

It is where work and pleasure collide and often within the space of a single conversation, panel or dinner. For those fortunate enough to experience it, Cannes Lions can provide the kind of creative and professional stimulation that stays with you long after you've left the South of France.

And maybe that is what keeps so many people returning: not simply the awards, the parties or even the celebrity appearances, but the possibility that somewhere in the middle of an already overwhelming week, you might encounter an idea, a person or a conversation that completely changes the trajectory of the year ahead.