The Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity will introduce dedicated safe zones at this year’s event for attendees who “feel uncomfortable”, “need support” or want advice from safeguarding professionals.
The confidential spaces will be staffed by trained professionals 22 hours a day, between 8:30am and 6:30am, throughout the festival next month, according to AdWeek.
They will operate inside the main venue at Palais des Festivals, Pantiero Terrace (near the registration space for Cannes Lions), and at La Roseraie park.
Once an incident is reported, the professionals working at the zones have three options based on its severity: offer counsel, work with on-site festival security to help manage the situation appropriately and discreetly, or involve local authorities to escalate the matter.
Organisers of the festival will also bring greater visibility to numerous “alert buttons”, which were installed by the City of Cannes in 2015, by including their precise locations in the Cannes Lions Festival app and its inclusivity guide. These are inconspicuous and easily accessible alarms with a camera and microphone, and are directly connected to Cannes police.
The closest buttons to the festival are in front of the Palais steps, at the entrance to the SNCF train station, on Place Roubaud in La Bocca, and at Macé beach.
The introduction of the safeguarding zones follows several women speaking out about their experiences of sexual harassment and assault at the 2024 Cannes Lions event.
These include Dagmar Bennett, partnerships director at Brixton Finishing School and a freelance TV documentary director, who shared her story with Campaign of a senior male business associate asking if she would exchange sex for money.
She called upon males to lead the change and take responsibility, as well as Cannes Lions to “take further proactive steps by creating platforms and safe spaces, where men can talk openly, learn, take accountability, and have clear actions on how to actively change attitudes and workplace culture”.
In addition, TimeTo and Cannes Lions joined forces to offer guidance and education around sexual harassment at industry events ahead of last year’s festival. The guidelines aimed to create and foster a supportive environment of respect, wellbeing and accountability, where anyone attending an event feels secure and able to enjoy themselves safely.
TimeTo then launched a “bystander training” programme to help people tackle harassment when they see it taking place.
Cannes Lions said on its website: "We’re proud to be working with trusted partners to ensure everyone can participate in the festival free from harm or harassment. In the event of a safeguarding concern, we have a clear triage system in place to ensure swift, appropriate, and confidential support."
The Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity 2025 is taking place from 16-20 June.
Pippa Glucklich, chair of TimeTo told Campaign: “The Cannes Lions team have listened and acted on feedback from last year's festival, and we're delighted they're putting more safeguarding measures in place to ensure that everyone who attends can enjoy the festival safely.
"The safe zones will not only be a place of safety should anyone experience unwanted inappropriate behaviour, but there will be a halo effect, acting as a deterrent to any potential predators as Cannes are clearly demonstrating that they operate a zero tolerance policy on any form of harassment. We hope to help create an environment where no one experiences any type of inappropriate behaviour and we can all enjoy celebrating the best of creativity that our industry has to offer."
TimeTo is also working with Cannes Lions to deliver active bystander training sessions, which the Lions team will offer to all delegates in advance of the festival, and aim to equip attendees with the tools and skills to safely and effectively intervene should they witness sexual harassment.
