Can we brand the yacht with our company logo for Cannes Lions?

Yes — aft-deck signage, branded tender wraps, branded napery, crew overshirts, and menus are standard. Hull paint or large-format hull branding requires the yacht owner's specific approval; the office negotiates on the charter contract.

Is the yacht only for the week, or do we need it for longer?

Most marketing-week charters run the full Cannes Lions week (six to seven nights). A few clients add a pre-week to set up and a post-week to host top customers or run an off-site. The office plans both formats.

Do we need to be alongside, or is the bay anchorage workable?

Alongside is the cleaner format for breakfast/lunch/drinks. Anchorage with tender chain works but adds friction to flow and timing — the office uses it only for 60m+ hulls where alongside is not available.

What's the difference between Cannes Lions and the Cannes Film Festival for yacht charter?

The Film Festival (mid-May) is private-guest stays; Cannes Lions (mid-June) is corporate hospitality. Lions has more daytime activity on board, more catered events, more branded signage. Both share the berth scarcity problem.

How early should we start planning?

For Cannes Lions 2026 — most major hulls were placed by October 2025. For 2027, conversations should begin no later than spring 2026 for first choice. Late availability sometimes opens in May, but berths rarely.

Cannes Lions Yacht Charter — Why Brands Book a Hull Instead of a Hotel

Cannes Lions is the marketing industry's annual five-day conference: panels, the lions themselves, awards, and a parallel hospitality season on the Croisette that has, in the last fifteen years, eclipsed the conference in terms of brand spend. The hotels (Martinez, Carlton, Majestic) are booked for the duration as agency takeover spaces. Yachts have moved into the gap as the harder-to-replicate venue: branded, private, with the right view of the Palais and the cleanest hospitality flow on the Croisette.

Why a yacht instead of a hotel suite

Single guest list, single security check at the gangway
Branded aft deck signage with no hotel co-tenant interference
Catering controlled by the boat's chef and the office's on-shore network — no hotel banqueting margin
Sightline directly onto the Palais and the Promenade if the boat is alongside the outer quay
Capacity flex — 20 for breakfast, 50 for lunch, 80 for a sundown — without renegotiating room hire each time
Privacy on calls and content reviews held aboard during the working day

The two formats

Alongside in the Vieux Port

The Vieux Port outer quay carries up to roughly 50m alongside. Berths are contracted for Cannes Lions a year ahead through the harbour and a small network of yacht agents. The alongside set-up gives guests a flat walk on/off the yacht and is the cleaner hospitality flow.

Anchored in the Croisette bay

For larger hulls (50m+) the option is the bay anchorage with a tender chain into the Vieux Port. Branded tender wraps, chartered launches and pontoon time at the Quai des Iles form the operational chain. Less convenient but the only option for 60m+ hulls.

What gets booked aboard during the week

Breakfasts — 08:00–10:30, leadership briefings, small (8–15)
Lunches — 13:00–15:00, often a panel-style format with a guest speaker
Working sessions — afternoons, smaller groups, creative reviews
Drinks — 18:00–20:00, the sundown moment, largest guest list (40–80)
Dinners — 20:30 onwards, the closer (12–20 guests), often hosted by C-suite

Branding — what's allowed

Aft-deck signage, custom tender wraps, branded napery and menus, branded crew uniforms (over the yacht's own uniform) are all standard. The yacht owner sets the boundaries on hull paint or large-format signage; the office negotiates the brief on the charter contract. Festival official-partner branding requires separate Cannes Lions accreditation — the office coordinates but does not sell that accreditation.

Programme integration with the festival

The Cannes Lions conference badges run by accreditation tier (Festival, Classic Plus, etc.). The office works with the corporate client's registration team to align tender slots with delegate movements. A typical day: 08:00 breakfast aboard with C-suite, delegates ashore 09:30–17:00 for the conference, return to yacht 18:00 for drinks, dinner 20:30 aboard or at an arranged Croisette restaurant.

What the office handles end-to-end

Yacht with the right deck plan for the brief (more saloon and aft deck than tender platform)
Berth or anchorage with tender chain into the Vieux Port
Catering — yacht chef plus brought-in shore catering for larger lunch and drinks
Branded signage, tender wraps, menus
Hotel rooms ashore for the team — Martinez, Carlton, Hotel Barrière Le Majestic, JW Marriott
Private aviation in and out — Falcon 2000LXS or Phenom 300E from London / Munich / Madrid
Crew and security NDAs, content access policies on board
Festival accreditation coordination (not sale)

Booking timeline and cost

Cannes Lions week 2026 (third week of June) is the more difficult of the year's two major Cannes weeks because berth contracts are signed in October the year before. A 30–45m yacht for the week of branded hospitality with crew, provisioning and an alongside berth trades in the €180,000–€450,000 range depending on yacht and APA. Aviation, hotel rooms, branded production and festival accreditation are additional. The office quotes the lines separately so marketing teams can present the budget cleanly internally.

How to start a brief

A short message via the match form or directly to the office on WhatsApp (+41 79 285 79 79). We come back with two or three real hull options, a written brief on what the week aboard looks like, and a separate document on the aviation routing.