Is Cannes Lions for Freelancers?

The Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity is the world’s leading celebration of advertising, marketing, and creative communications, held every year in Cannes, France. For six days, the city transforms into a global gathering of creatives, strategists, brand leaders, founders, producers, and storytellers. Traditionally, the festival has been dominated by agency teams and senior creative leaders attending to learn, celebrate award-winning work, scout talent, and build partnerships. But Cannes is evolving — and it’s becoming far more relevant to freelancers, content creators, consultants, and small creative business owners than ever before.

When it comes to cost, Cannes Lions passes are expensive. A full-access pass typically ranges from €2,600–€4,000, while limited passes still cost between €1,200–€1,800. For someone early in their career or in the process of building their client base, that price can feel unrealistic — and for many freelancers, it genuinely is.

But here’s the part most newcomers don’t realise:

You don’t need a Palais pass to get huge value from Cannes.

Without a ticket you won’t have access to the main Palais talks, screenings, or award shows — but the fringe events happening across Cannes are extensive, energetic, and absolutely worth attending. Many creatives, founders and even senior agency leaders spend the entire week outside the Palais and still get enormous value from the experience.

The unofficial fringe schedule — especially the one curated by Propeller Group — spans the entire city. Throughout the week, there are brand-hosted talks, beach takeovers, agency pop-ups, community meetups, workshops, networking lunches, open houses, and cultural conversations flowing from morning until late at night. They are free once you sign up, and the quality is exceptional. Cannes becomes a global crossroads, bringing together people from the US, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and South America. For freelancers, this creates a unique opportunity to build an international network in a very short amount of time.

As a first-time attendee in 2025, I found the experience to be fun, intense, and incredibly rewarding. I loved the energy at Inkwell Beach networking lunches, where the presence of diversity was strong and intentional. I met CMOs at Female Quotient, discovered thoughtful activations from Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Meta, and attended some of the most authentic talks hosted by Meet People Like Us and Financial Times Live. Agencies like DEPT created warm, open spaces that made connecting feel natural and effortless.

What Cannes Lions Could Do Better

For all its global influence, Cannes Lions still has room to grow — particularly when it comes to celebrating grassroots creatives and independent talent. Some of the most culturally powerful, visually exciting, and socially impactful work today is being created by smaller studios, independent creators, and resourceful freelancers working with limited budgets. These are the people who turn constraints into innovation, craft big ideas with small teams, and create work that resonates deeply without massive resources.

Yet Cannes can still feel heavily weighted toward big-budget campaigns and large agency networks. Creativity isn’t only happening in global agencies — it’s happening in bedrooms, co-working spaces, micro-studios, and independent collectives that are shaping culture in real time.

This is where Always Create comes in. By partnering with Always Create, Cannes Lions and other creative ecosystems could identify, showcase, and connect emerging talent that often goes unnoticed. Always Create acts as a bridge, giving smaller studios, independent creatives, and freelancers access to global opportunities, networks, and visibility — ensuring that impactful work made with limited resources gets the recognition it deserves. By amplifying these voices, the festival would not only become more inclusive, but also more reflective of the real creative landscape, highlighting the innovation and ingenuity that often thrives outside the traditional agency system.

Final Thoughts

For freelancers and small business owners, Cannes Lions is what you make of it. Even without a ticket, the city is full of opportunities — from fringe programming, to global networking, to brand activations and community-led events. With intention, curiosity, and confidence, Cannes can be a transformative experience. And with some shifts in how the festival elevates emerging and independent talent, it could become even more aligned with the creative future taking shape today.

Sign up for information about Cannes 2026.