Every year, Cannes Lions descends on the Croisette and with it comes a very particular kind of chaos.
It’s a lot. If you’re not careful, the festival can feel like something to survive rather than something to enjoy.
A couple of years ago, I decided to change the rules.
I put together a simple set of personal commitments for Cannes. Not a manifesto. Not a wellness programme. Just a way of showing up as my best self and navigating one of the biggest weeks in the creative calendar without coming home completely broken.
I shared them on LinkedIn and the response was incredible. Last year, people stopped me throughout the week to tell me they were following them to a T.
So here they are again.
Rule #1: No Daytime Drinking
(5pm onwards is acceptable.)
This one sounds easy until you’re standing on a yacht at noon in 30 degrees with a cold glass of rosé being thrust into your hand and everyone around you saying, “Go on, it’s Cannes.”
This isn’t about being puritanical. It’s about making better choices.
The days are long. The sun is hot. And the chances of your best conversation happening after six hours of rosé are remarkably slim.
The best sessions, introductions and opportunities happen when you’re present. It’s very hard to be present when you’re three Aperol Spritzes and a bottle of Minuty down.
Rule #2: No Obligations
This is arguably the most important rule of all.
There are more than 1,200 events, parties and sessions during Cannes week. The temptation to say yes to everything is enormous. So is the guilt and the FOMO.
You signed up. You promised someone you’d attend. You said you’d pop by. You don’t want to let people down.
The result? Endless rushing around and leaving brilliant conversations to attend events that often turn out to be a damp squib.
Give yourself permission to edit. To miss things. To do less, better.
If you’re somewhere that is energising you, teaching you something or introducing you to interesting people, stay there.
Don’t let FOOPO (Fear of Other People’s Opinions) convince you that you have to be somewhere else.
Rule #3: Set yourself a 1am Curfew
The Martinez. The Carlton. The gutter bar.
These Cannes institutions exist to separate you from your sleep and your dignity in roughly equal measure.
Even if you follow Rule 1 and don’t start drinking until 5pm, a 1am finish still gives you eight hours of socialising. That’s plenty.
The rule isn’t “don’t have fun.” The rule is “know when to go home.”
Because the version of Cannes that leaves you broken by Wednesday isn’t nearly as much fun as it sounds.
Rule #4: Take Breaks Whenever You Need Them
Nobody talks about this one, but it might be the most important.
A high-performance principle is that either side of every peak are two valleys.
You cannot go flat out from breakfast meetings to beach panels to rooftop drinks for five straight days and expect to operate at your best.
So when your battery starts running low, stop. Find some air conditioning. Have a coffee. Eat a proper meal rather than a saucer of charcuterie and finger food.
Sit quietly for twenty minutes.
And if it’s 32 degrees and you need to grab an Uber rather than walk half an hour across town, do it.
That’s not laziness. That’s strategic thinking. The goal isn’t to survive Cannes. It’s to enjoy it.
Rule #5: Drink Tonnes of Water
This one is simple. Yet easy to forget.
It’s impossible to be your best self when you’re dehydrated, sleep-deprived and standing in 30-degree heat. We are 70% water and a drop of as little as 1 or 2% can have an effect.
The no-daytime-drinking rule does most of the heavy lifting before 5pm.
After that, you’ll need to be a bit more intentional. Water is boring. Headaches are more boring.
Choose wisely.
What These Rules Are Really About
I didn’t write these rules as a guide to being boring at Cannes. I wrote them as a guide to actually being at Cannes.
Present. Prepared. Engaged.
The best thing about Cannes isn’t the yachts, the rosé or the parties (although they are fun!) . It’s the people.
The conversations that happen there can genuinely change the direction of a business, a career, or a creative vision. But none of that lands if you’re running on fumes, saying yes to everything, and running from one obligation to the next.
So take these rules and use them as you wish. They’re not mandatory. They’re simply a reminder that in the moments that matter most, the best thing you can do is:
Slow the F*ck Down
Bon courage.
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Photo by Jannis Lucas on Unsplash