Cannes Film Festival postponed from May to July 2021

In-person 2020 edition was cancelled last year in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic

Cannes Film Festival postponed from May to July 2021 (Getty Images)

The 2021 edition of Cannes Film Festival has been pushed back from 11–22 May to 6–17 July due to ongoing coronavirus concerns.

The Cannes Lions advertising market, meanwhile, is still scheduled for June 21–25.

Although a Covid-19 vaccine is currently being distributed across the globe, rollout has been slower than expected and festival organisers are not optimistic that May timing will work out as previously hoped.

As Variety pointed out earlier this month, though, holding the festival later is likely to bring a larger number of films. French Riviera hotel owners and businesses could also benefit from increased tourism during the summer months, as the area had to cancel a number of other festivals and trade shows that would normally take place if not for the pandemic.

As of now, France is aiming to vaccinate 2.4 million of its 67 million residents by the end of February, according to Reuters.

The Los Angeles Times reports, however, that only 40 per cent of French people say they intend to get vaccinated, according to a recent survey.

That puts France last out of 15 countries surveyed. In countries such as Britain and the US, by comparison, 77 per cent and 69 per cent of respondents, respectively, say they do intend to be inoculated against Covid-19.

Last year, Cannes cancelled its physical edition and instead announced an official selection.

If the 2021 festival does happen as planned, it would be the second major festival to go ahead with an in-person event during the pandemic after the 2020 Venice Film Festival.