Cannes Lions 2027

For five days every June, Cannes becomes the working capital of the global advertising industry. The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity — run by LIONS (part of Informa Festivals) since 1954 — brings around 12,000 to 15,000 delegates through the Palais des Festivals: holding companies (WPP, Omnicom, Publicis, Interpublic, Dentsu, Havas), the platforms (Meta, Google, Amazon, TikTok, Pinterest, Spotify), the major agencies, brand teams from every Fortune 500 marketing department, the trade press, and the festival's awards delegation. Total visitor count across the wider event — including the unaccredited party-and-hospitality circuit — is closer to 25,000+ across the week.

The 2027 edition runs Monday 22 – Friday 26 June 2026. The official seminar programme takes place inside the Palais des Festivals on the Croisette — the same building used for the Cannes Film Festival in May. But the defining venue of Cannes Lions is not the Palais. It is the Bay of Cannes itself: every June the Croisette anchorage and the Vieux Port quays fill with branded charter yachts, each one rented for the week by a holding company, platform, agency or major brand as their hospitality base. The yacht is the venue: meetings on the upper deck through the day, cocktails as the seminars close, dinners and panel discussions into the evening, and on the largest yachts a full programme of brand activations, podcast recordings, and client receptions.

The page below is built around how a charter client should actually approach the week: whether to charter a yacht as your branded hospitality venue — in which case the booking has to be made twelve to eighteen months ahead, and the yacht is your hotel, office, brand venue, dining room and meeting space across the full five days — or to use the yacht as a smaller team's accommodation and meeting space off the main agency calendar. Either way, Cannes during Lions week is the toughest accommodation week of the European calendar; the yacht solves the problem in one decision.

The first reason brand teams, agencies and platforms book yachts at Cannes Lions is the most strategic one: the yacht is the venue. The Palais des Festivals hosts the daily seminar programme; the Bay of Cannes hosts the rest. By midday on Monday of festival week, the Croisette anchorage and the Vieux Port quays fill with thirty to fifty branded charter yachts — each one rebadged with the holding company, platform, agency or brand of the week, custom décor on the upper deck, branded canapés in the saloon, and a programme of seminars, podcast recordings, client meetings, and evening cocktails. The yacht is your second floor of the festival, and the after-hours one your competitors and clients walk between.

The second reason is the same one that drives every other June event in Cannes: the city is full. The Croisette hotels — the Carlton, the Martinez, the Majestic, the Hotel Barrière Le Majestic, and the wider luxury and four-star stock — are typically at capacity for Lions week by the previous October, with rates running at three to four times the standard summer rate. Suites at the headline hotels routinely price at €3,000–€6,000+ per night. For brand teams of any meaningful size, a yacht charter is the cost-competitive option: four to twelve cabins for a comparable hotel-suite budget, plus the catering, branded surface area, and after-hours flexibility a hotel cannot provide.

The third reason is the calendar. Cannes Lions sits a fortnight after the Monaco Grand Prix (early June) and a fortnight after the Cannes Film Festival closes (third weekend of May) — meaning the same yacht can be booked across all three events. Multi-event charters of this kind — Film Festival into Monaco GP into Lions, with the yacht moving between Cannes and Monaco on the intervening weekends — are the most efficient way to host across the full Riviera June. Boatcrowd's brokerage team handles these programmes regularly; the yacht is the constant, the events change.

The fourth reason is the Bay of Cannes itself. June is the peak French Riviera cruising window — water at 21–23°C, daytime highs in the mid-to-high 20s, evenings warm enough for upper-deck dining. The Lérins Islands sit fifteen minutes' tender from the Croisette; Cap d'Antibes and the Eden-Roc thirty minutes east; Saint-Tropez and Portofino within practical reach for a weekend reposition. Many brand teams running their working programme on the yacht across the week also build in a Sunday lunch at La Guérite on Sainte-Marguerite or the Eden-Roc on Cap d'Antibes as the closing event.

Cannes Lions is the tightest charter-booking window of the European calendar. Unlike Cannes Yachting Festival or Monaco Yacht Show — where September shoulder-season prices apply and the yacht itself is bookable later than the berth — Cannes Lions generates true event-week premium pricing, and the headline yachts are committed before the festival of the previous year has even closed.

Practical booking timeline for the 2026 festival week:

• Eighteen months out (late 2024 / early 2025 for the 2027 edition): The window in which the major holding companies, platforms and brand teams commit the headline yachts — typically 40–70 metre motor yachts with the deck space, cabin count, and AV infrastructure to host hundreds of guests across the week. Boatcrowd's pre-Lions inventory across this segment is typically committed by the previous summer.
• Twelve months out (June–September of the previous year): The window for booking the mid-tier yachts — 25–40 metres, four-to-six cabins, the right size for agency or brand teams of 10–25 people running a working programme on the deck. Vieux Port and Port Canto show-week berths must be locked in by this point too.
• Six to nine months out (October–February): Standard fleet inventory of all sizes remains available. Charter rates begin to firm up as agencies finalise their festival programmes. This is the practical window for clients planning a working brand presence without the long-tail commitment.
• Three to six months out (March–April): Last realistic window for headline yachts. Premium pricing applies; remaining inventory tends to be smaller motor yachts (under 25 metres) and catamarans available on weekly rate.
• Inside three months: By Cannes Lions standards, last-minute. Smaller yachts (under 25 metres) and overflow from cancellations are still occasionally available. Anchorage in the Bay of Cannes off the Croisette is free and unrestricted; the yacht itself is the harder commitment.

The Bay of Cannes has the deepest concentration of yacht infrastructure on the French Riviera after Antibes. The two Croisette ports sit inside the festival footprint itself; everything else is a short cruise. Anchoring in the Bay of Cannes off the Croisette is free and unrestricted across the year, including Lions week, which makes a yacht-based festival visit considerably more flexible than the equivalent hotel-based one.

Vieux Port (Cannes Old Port) — the brand-yacht row

The original Cannes harbour and the natural location for the headline brand-rented yachts during Lions week. Vieux Port sits a five-minute walk from the Palais des Festivals, with the yachts moored stern-to along the quays at Quai Saint-Pierre and Quai Laubeuf. Inside-port berths during Lions week are the most valuable accommodation in Cannes — the holding companies, platforms, and major brand teams book these twelve to eighteen months ahead. Vieux Port handles yachts up to roughly 70 metres alongside on the outer quays.

Port Pierre Canto — superyacht segment

The newer marina at the eastern end of La Croisette, a fifteen-minute walk from Vieux Port and the Palais. Port Canto handles motor yachts to 95 metres on its outer pontoons and hosts the larger superyachts that won't fit Vieux Port. The eastern Croisette location is slightly further from the daytime seminar venues but well-positioned for the Croisette beach clubs and the Bagatelle / Carlton Beach evening programme.

Anchorage — Bay of Cannes / off La Croisette

The standard cost-efficient option during Lions week. Anchor in the Bay of Cannes off the Croisette (depths 8–25 metres, good holding) and tender into Quai Saint-Pierre at Vieux Port, or directly onto the Croisette beachfront if you have a beach-club arrangement. Free of charge, unrestricted, and where the majority of agency-and-brand charter yachts spend Lions week. Tender shuttle takes 5–10 minutes.

Port Vauban — Antibes, French Riviera

The largest yacht marina on the French Riviera, 15 nautical miles east of Cannes. Port Vauban handles superyachts to 165 metres on its deep-water IYCA pontoon. The standard alternative when the Croisette is full — about a forty-minute cruise into the Bay of Cannes or a thirty-minute drive (longer during Lions week traffic). Working brand teams using the yacht as their off-Croisette base often run Antibes-Cannes by tender each morning.

Port Hercule — Monaco

About 30 nautical miles east of Cannes — too far for daily Lions commuting, but practical as a base for clients combining Lions with Monaco GP (early June, three weeks earlier) on a multi-event Riviera programme. The yacht repositions from Monaco to Cannes on the weekend between the two events.

Port Gallice & Marina Baie des Anges — Juan-les-Pins, Cagnes-sur-Mer

Two practical smaller marinas between Cannes and Nice. Port Gallice in Juan-les-Pins is a 25-minute drive from La Croisette and handles yachts to 50 metres on its outer pontoon. Marina Baie des Anges in Villeneuve-Loubet handles up to 50 metres and is the closest substantial marina to Nice airport — relevant for clients flying delegates in for specific Lions days.

The natural way to think about a Cannes Lions charter is as a five-day brand-activation programme bookended by two free Riviera weekends. The festival absorbs Monday-through-Friday daytime attention; the surrounding weekends are cruising, lunch anchorages, and the headline restaurants of the Côte d'Azur. The June weather window is consistently among the best of the European summer — water at 21–23°C, daytime highs in the mid-to-high 20s, evenings comfortable on the upper deck.

• Lérins Islands — Sainte-Marguerite & Saint-Honorat. Fifteen minutes' cruise from the Croisette, the Lérins Islands are the natural lunch anchorage during Lions week itself. Sainte-Marguerite has the Fort Royal (where the Man in the Iron Mask was imprisoned), the wooded paths, and the headline beach restaurant La Guérite; Saint-Honorat is owned by the Cistercian monastery and produces one of the more interesting Provençal wines. Many brand-host yachts run a Saturday or Sunday closing lunch at the Lérins for their full delegation.
• Cap d'Antibes & Juan-les-Pins. A short cruise east — the Cap d'Antibes anchorages off Plage de la Garoupe and the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc are the classic French Riviera lunch stops. The Eden-Roc terrace, with its cliff-edge swimming-pool and 180-degree view of the bay, is the natural closing reservation of many Lions weeks.
• Saint-Tropez. A two-and-a-half-hour cruise west of Cannes — practical as a Sunday-night reposition or weekend stop if Lions runs into a wider Riviera programme. The Pampelonne beach clubs (Club 55, Loulou Ramatuelle, La Plage Mes Amis, Verde) are at peak through late June; Saint-Tropez itself runs at full capacity from mid-month.
• Villefranche, Cap Ferrat & Monaco. A short cruise east — Villefranche Bay, Cap Ferrat's anchorages off the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, and Monaco itself. The natural reposition stretch for clients combining Cannes Lions with the Monaco GP fortnight earlier in June.
• Italian Riviera — Portofino & San Fruttuoso. About a six-hour cruise east of Cannes — overnight passage, anchor in Portofino Bay, lunch at Da Puny on the piazza, swim at San Fruttuoso's monastery cove. The natural extension for charter weeks of eight-to-ten days or longer that pair Lions with an Italian-Riviera close.
• Corsica. An overnight crossing south from Cannes — Calvi, Saint-Florent, and the western Corsican coast within reach for longer programmes. June water clarity at the Bonifacio cliffs and the Lavezzi Islands is at its early-summer peak.

The Croisette restaurant scene runs at peak intensity during Lions — the rooms below are the ones that consistently anchor brand-team and agency dining across festival week. The headline Croisette hotels (Martinez, Carlton, Majestic) effectively reserve their flagship rooms for their corporate clients in residence; the practical alternatives sit on the Cap d'Antibes, around Vieux Port, or on the Lérins Islands offshore. Reservations should be made at the time of charter booking.

During Lions week, the Croisette hotel bars run as the unofficial meeting venues of the global advertising industry. Each major holding company effectively colonises one hotel for its delegation; the bars below remain the recognised neutral ground. Reservations help; arrival before 18:00 helps more.

The defining nightlife of Cannes Lions is not the standing venues but the brand-sponsored programme — YouTube's annual party, Spotify Beach, the Stagwell Sport Beach, Meta Beach, TikTok's seafront takeover, the holding-company evenings (Publicis at the Carlton, WPP at the Martinez, Interpublic and Omnicom across multiple venues), and the broker, agency and on-yacht after-parties that run from midnight onwards. The list below covers the standing institutions; the brand programme rotates each year and runs across the Croisette beach clubs.

• Spotify Beach & the brand-takeover beach clubs. A run of Croisette beach venues are taken over for the week by major platforms and brands — Spotify, Meta, Stagwell, YouTube, Pinterest, and a rotating cast of agencies. These daytime-and-evening venues are the main Lions venues outside the Palais itself; access is via invitation, agency relationship, or your charter team.
• Bâoli Cannes. The defining Cannes nightclub — harbour-front, just east of Vieux Port, the most heavily-booked late venue of Lions week. Tables work through the hotel concierge or your charter team; arrival after midnight is the norm.
• The Carlton Beach & Bagatelle Cannes. The Carlton Beach Club runs DJ programming through Lions week into the small hours; Bagatelle's Cannes outpost (the Saint-Tropez group's Croisette branch) handles the long-lunch-into-evening transition.
• On-yacht after-parties. The defining late-night Lions venue is the brand-yacht after-party itself. Many of the charter yachts in Vieux Port and the Bay of Cannes run hosted after-parties from midnight onwards, with the access list managed by the agency or brand in residence. Boatcrowd's clients hosting on the yacht run their own party calendar across the week through our concierge.
• Pre-festival warm-up parties. The Friday and Saturday before Lions opens have become a Cannes industry tradition in their own right — a quieter wind-up version of the festival, with the same yacht-and-Croisette venues running early-arrivals events. Many delegations begin the week on Saturday for this reason.

Cannes Lions is a true hospitality-premium week — alongside Monaco Grand Prix and Cannes Film Festival, it is one of the three weeks per year when the Riviera charter market prices on event demand rather than seasonal availability. Lions-week rates typically run 2–3× the equivalent yacht's standard June rate, with the headline brand-rented yachts (40–70 metres, Vieux Port berth, AV-capable) commanding the highest premiums. The premium reflects what the yacht actually delivers during the week: a branded venue for hosting hundreds of guests across five days, in a city with no equivalent alternative.

Standard French Riviera charters include the yacht, full professional crew (captain, mate, chef, full stewardess and deck team), comprehensive insurance, and use of all on-board equipment and tenders. Most charters include the marina berth at the embarkation port; Lions-week Vieux Port or Port Canto berths are typically charged separately and command a significant premium over standard French Riviera marina rates. Tender shuttle into Cannes from anchored or Antibes-based yachts is included as standard.

Additional costs are APA (typically 30–40% of the charter rate during event weeks — higher than standard because of catering and beverage spend), French VAT (20% on French-flagged charters in French waters), and a recommended crew gratuity of 10–15% paid at the end of the charter. Custom branded décor, signage wrapping, AV equipment hire, and additional on-deck catering staff are charged through APA or arranged separately depending on scale.

Cannes Film Festival (mid-May), Monaco Grand Prix (early June) and Cannes Lions (late June) sit within five weeks of each other on the same Riviera coastline. Booking a yacht across two or three of the events on a single charter delivers a substantially better effective rate than three separate event-week charters, with the additional flexibility of cruising weeks at Saint-Tropez, Portofino, Cap d'Antibes and the Lérins Islands in between. Most multi-event clients book through Boatcrowd 18+ months ahead for this reason.