Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2026
About This Show
Cannes Lions is the world's most prestigious advertising and creative communications festival, held annually at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France. It celebrates brand storytelling, media innovation and creative excellence, awarding the iconic Lion trophies across dozens of categories.
2026 Recap
The 73rd Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity ran June 22-26, 2026. Entries fell 25.46% to 20,050 from 92 countries, down from 26,900 in 2025, after LIONS introduced new Awards Integrity Standards following the 2025 fabricated-case-study and scam-ad scandals: every claim now requires proof of impact, each entry must be personally endorsed by both the agency CEO and the client CMO, and rule-breakers can be banned for up to three years.
Mother London won the Film Grand Prix for "A Time and a Place," two Super Bowl LX spots for Anthropic's Claude that satirise ad-supported chatbots. Other Grand Prix included "Apple TV Rebrand" for Apple (TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Los Angeles) in Design, "The KitKat Heist" for KitKat (Burson and VML London) in PR, "Original Forever" for Adidas (Johannes Leonardo, New York) in Entertainment and again in Entertainment for Music, and "Nigrum Corpus" for IDOMED and Instituto Yduqs (Artplan, São Paulo) in Glass: The Lion for Change. AB InBev took the inaugural Creative Brand Lion Grand Prix and was also named Creative Marketer of the Year for a record third time. Ogilvy won Network of the Year, LePub Milan Agency of the Year, Rethink both Independent Agency and Independent Network of the Year, and Heineken Creative Brand of the Year for the first time. Kenya and Greece each won their first-ever Grand Prix. Oprah Winfrey was honoured as the 2026 Cannes LionHeart. LIONS did not publish a delegate count for the edition.
Next edition: Cannes Lions 2027 runs 21-25 June 2027 in Cannes, France.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Cannes Lions 2026 held?+
The 73rd Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity ran June 22-26, 2026 at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France.
Why did Cannes Lions 2026 entries fall so much?+
Entries fell 25.46% to 20,050, down from 26,900 in 2025. The drop followed new Awards Integrity Standards introduced after the 2025 fabricated-case-study and scam-ad scandals. Entries now require proof of impact for every claim, personal endorsement by both the agency CEO and the client CMO, and rule-breakers can be banned from entering for up to three years.
Who won the Film Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2026?+
Mother London won the Film Grand Prix for A Time and a Place, two Super Bowl LX spots for Anthropic's Claude: Can I Get a Six Pack Quickly? and How Can I Communicate Better With My Mom? The films satirise ad-supported chatbots. Film jury president Pelle Sjoenell described the work as an ad about where ads shouldn't exist, an AI making fun of AI.
What were the biggest themes at Cannes Lions 2026?+
Awards integrity and AI. AI ran through the programme, framed around working with it rather than being replaced by it, with Google DeepMind's Demis Hassabis on a Palais stage. New for 2026 were the Creative Brand Lion, which judges a brand's internal creative systems and went to AB InBev, plus LIONS Sport as a content track and the Cannes Lions Deconstructed wrap-up stream. Oprah Winfrey was honoured as the 2026 Cannes LionHeart.
How many people attended Cannes Lions 2026?+
LIONS did not publish an official delegate count for the 2026 edition. Pre-event materials pointed at more than 12,000 delegates from over 90 countries, and third-party trackers put paid registrations at roughly 14,200 in 2025, so 2026 was likely in the low-to-mid teens of thousands. The firm figure for the edition is 20,050 award entries from 92 countries.
When is the next Cannes Lions?+
Cannes Lions 2027 runs 21-25 June 2027 in Cannes, France.