By Minener Staff | May 24, 2025
An alleged criminal fire at a substation in Saint-Cassien disrupted electricity for 160,000 homes in the French Riviera, temporarily affecting the Cannes Film Festival.
A suspected arson attack on a power substation in southeastern France triggered a major blackout on Saturday, leaving around 160,000 homes without electricity in the Alpes-Maritimes department, including the city of Cannes. The outage temporarily disrupted the final day of the internationally acclaimed Cannes Film Festival.
France’s national grid operator, RTE, confirmed that the power outage occurred around 10:00 AM local time. According to an early investigation by the French Ministry of the Interior—reported by Le Figaro—the cause was a fire “of criminal origin” at the Saint-Cassien substation in Tanneron, which impacted the Enedis electricity distribution network.
The blackout affected several parts of Cannes, including the Cineum multiplex located on the outskirts of the city, which was unable to operate for a period during the night. Power was cut from approximately 2:50 AM to 3:30 AM, but supply was gradually restored.
Fortunately, the Palais des Festivals has its own power source, allowing most of the day’s official festival programming to continue uninterrupted. The festival’s award ceremony remains scheduled for Saturday night, as confirmed by organizers.
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Tags: Cannes blackout, power infrastructure, RTE France, Enedis, energy security, criminal fire