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Cannes Lions today provides an update on contingency planning for the Festival, in light of the evolving global situation regarding Covid-19.

The Festival is still scheduled to take place, as planned, from 22-26 June in Cannes, France. "We continue to monitor the situation closely and follow all guidance from health and government officials. We remain fully committed to ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of our customers, employees, sponsors and partners," reads the press statement.

The Festival, working closely with the Mayoral office of Cannes and the French Authorities, has secured alternative dates of 26-30 October 2020, if changing circumstances require us to postpone the event from June. If that decision is made, the new dates will be announced no later than 15 April 2020, sharing weekly updates ahead of any announcement date.

Irrespective of the timing of the Festival, the organisers want to reassure the global creative community that they are fully committed to awarding Lions in 2020: all entries will still be judged and awarded by the global juries. "As things stand, anyone who is submitting a Lions entry for 2020 should follow the existing process and timeline. If anything about that process changes, we will issue a further announcement," they added.

Simon Cook, Managing Director, Cannes Lions, commented: “As we stand today, all of our plans are proceeding as scheduled and we are still working towards Cannes Lions 2020 taking place as planned on 22 June. However, as the global situation is evolving constantly, we want to be open about our contingency plans. We have consulted with our customers and partners and have prepared accordingly by putting measures in place to allow flexibility, should we need it. As always, the safety of all those involved is our utmost priority, and any decision we take will reflect this.”