A significant power cut disrupted southeastern France on Saturday, threatening the Cannes Film Festival’s closing events, including the Palme d’Or ceremony.

Authorities have launched an investigation into potential arson.

Power was restored around 3 p.m. local time, several hours before the ceremony, with music resuming from beachfront speakers. The restoration was met with cheers from residents.

Earlier, around 160,000 homes were without power after a high-voltage line went down on Saturday morning, according to electricity network operator RTE on X. The outage followed a fire overnight at an electrical substation near Cannes, which had already weakened the power grid.

“We are investigating the possibility of a deliberate act of arson,” a police spokesperson stated.

Laurent Hottiaux, prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes department, released a statement condemning “serious acts of damage to electrical infrastructure.”

“All available resources are being used to identify, locate, arrest, and prosecute those responsible for these acts,” Hottiaux added.

Cannes Film Festival organizers confirmed the power outage impacted Saturday’s early activities. They noted the Palais des Festivals, the Croisette’s main venue, had switched to a backup power source.

“All scheduled events and screenings, including the Closing Ceremony, will proceed as planned under normal conditions,” the festival’s statement read. “The cause of the outage is currently unknown. Restoration efforts are ongoing.”

Traffic signals in parts of Cannes and Antibes stopped working after 10 a.m., leading to traffic congestion in city centers. Most stores along the Croisette remained closed, and local food stands only accepted cash. Train services in Cannes were also affected.

The festival also stated that screenings at the Cineum, one of its satellite locations, were briefly halted.

The Palme d’Or was scheduled to be awarded Saturday night. Top contenders included Joachim Trier’s family drama “Sentimental Value,” Jafar Panahi’s revenge thriller “It Was Just an Accident,” Kleber Mendonça Filho’s political thriller “The Secret Agent,” and Óliver Laxe’s desert road trip “Sirât.”

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