Festival onsite FAQs

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Inspire the global creative community with unconventional thinking and original problem-solving. We’re looking for ideas challenging the industry, disrupting the status quo or driving significant change. The proposed content session must premiere at Cannes Lions.

Focus on one thing. Be clear about what you're saying or what you're trying to address. And cover it in depth and with due diligence. Don’t just skim the surface. It's our job at Cannes Lions to curate a holistic content programme that speaks to all of the hottest topics in the industry, so you don't need to. What is the key message you want the audience to think about? Dive as deep as you can into the topic. Remember, if you have more content session ideas/topics, you can enter multiple session proposals. But make sure each has a single message and clear purpose.

We encourage you to answer a simple question throughout your talk – so what? What will the Cannes Lions audience gain from attending your talk? Show us how it’s done, offer step-by-step guides, help the audience learn from your mistakes and ultimately offer practical takeaways in exchange for their time and attention.

Don’t play it safe. The best sessions at Cannes Lions answer the questions everyone’s dying to ask out loud. So be daring and provocative. There’s creativity to be discovered in provocation. This could be your moment to step out onstage at Cannes Lions and speak to the world’s best problem-solvers. And what do problem-solvers want? To be challenged! No one wants to hear what they already know. It’s as simple as that. So disrupt, challenge, incite.

Ensure your idea resonates with the creative challenges of the Cannes Lions audience today. If you feel you could lift your idea and present it onstage elsewhere, it’s probably not right for Cannes Lions. The tools, tips and thought leadership you share will need to apply to creatives, marketers, strategists, creative business leaders and many more. Will it help them do their jobs better? Know who you’re trying to reach, and keep them in mind at all times in your session proposal.

Before submitting, please ensure your content session reflects the world at large. Does it speak to a global audience? Is it inclusive? Does it offer a diversity of thought? Go beyond the industry: liaise with professionals from fields like film, philosophy, art and music who are strongly connected with creativity and what the creative community cares about. Seek input from underrepresented voices in the industry to provide a different perspective. At LIONS, we place diversity, equity and inclusion at the heart of all of our content. We won’t move forward with any content submission that doesn’t meet our values.

You’re not onstage to sell a product. You’re there to serenade the audience. To create a connection, rather than a transaction. Make sure your speakers have a strong, authentic, personal connection to the topic. Our audience will know if they don’t. And if you can, don’t just tell, show. People love to see examples of work. Creatives are visual people. Think of how you want the audience to feel when they walk out of that theatre – joy, sadness, anger, excitement – and set out to make them feel it. Be a storyteller.

What can you do to stand out? People want to connect with what’s happening onstage. Think about different ways you can involve your audience. Go beyond a panel discussion format or a traditional keynote. Share your wildest idea or a super experiential format. Your content session will be competing with dozens of other events happening at the same time so be creative with the format. Dare to be bold.