May 7

May 7 Prépare-toi à être impressionnée: Cannes Lions Returns For Its Spectacular 73rd Edition In June 2026!

This article was drafted by Norman Busigu. Postcards From The Diaspora have been granted Official Press Accreditation at the 2026 Cannes Lions Festival. This is a pre-festival press release.

Held annually in the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (taking place from 22–26 June 2026) is home to the world's most prestigious annual event for the advertising, marketing, and creative communications industry. In essence, this is where creatives and marketers from around the world come together to celebrate innovation and history in the making.

Throughout the week-long the festival, attendees have the opportunity to hear from leading/renown brands and icons that are changing the world through their creativity. This year’s star-studded line up will include global media leader, producer, philanthropist, actress and author Oprah Winfrey, who will be honoured with the Cannes LionHeart Award!

Importantly, Cannes Lions has just announced the Shortlisting Jury for this year’s Festival. The Jury will shortlist world-class creative work that will go on to be judged, awarded and celebrated during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

This year’s global line-up brings together a diverse collection of experts reflecting the full breadth of disciplines across the creative landscape. We at PFTD are very excited to report that the line-up welcomes increased representation from across Pacific and Africa, including Jurors from Ethiopia, Namibia and Zimbabwe for the first time, alongside over 40 independent agencies making their Jury debut this year. Among the notable firsts is HumanSense, an independent agency that marks Sri Lanka’s first-ever Cannes Lions Juror.

Brand Experience & Activation Shortlisting Juror: Josephine Muvumba (Managing Director, MetropolitanRepublic, Uganda)

Commenting on this year’s line-up, Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said: “The Shortlisting Jury play a crucial role in the Awards. Their work in recognising groundbreaking creativity establishes the standard of excellence celebrated at the Festival. This year’s line-up brings together an exceptional cohort of talent from across a breadth of specialisms and markets. Their unique expertise will ensure the shortlist champions the innovative work driving the industry forward. Thank you to our Jurors for dedicating their time to curating the body of work that will set the global creative benchmark for the year ahead.”