The LIONS network, the global organisation and intelligence platform for the creative marketing and advertising industries, which operates the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced it is evolving with a connected programme of regional platforms across North America, APAC, and MENA.
LIONS will open greater year-round access to the skills and connections that help businesses build stronger creative and marketing capability – shaped, it says, around the cultural and commercial realities of each market.
Cannes Lions will remain the centre of the LIONS ecosystem, but now regional platforms will complement the festival, making more of LIONS’ expertise accessible throughout the year.
Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said: “For more than 70 years, Cannes Lions has set the global benchmark for creative excellence, bringing together the world’s creative marketing community in an unparalleled concentration of people, disciplines, cultures, and ideas.
“We know, however, that access to evidence, skills and networks that help businesses produce effective, creatively excellent work remains uneven. We’re evolving our global model to make more of what LIONS knows useful closer to where people work, while keeping Cannes Lions as the place where the world comes together.
“These platforms will be built with local communities, not simply for them. The exchange works both ways: global expertise becomes more relevant locally, while regional talent, work, and perspectives help shape what the industry encounters at Cannes Lions.”
North America
Insight to Impact debuts in Denver in October 2026 before moving to Nashville in 2027, bringing together Informa’s TMRE: The Market Research Event and Content Marketing World with expertise from across LIONS, including WARC, Contagious and Effie. The platform will connect consumer understanding, marketing effectiveness and creativity for the North American market. A major milestone in the evolution of the North American offering is VidCon – the world’s largest celebration of digital culture and its creators – joining the LIONS family. From 2027, VidCon x LIONS Creators will become part of Insight to Impact, reflecting the increasingly central role the creator economy plays in how brands, audiences, and culture connect.
Asia-Pacific
After almost four decades of championing creativity across Asia-Pacific, Spikes Asia will evolve into LIONS Asia in September 2027, in continued partnership with Haymarket Asia. Featuring the Asia Lions Awards, the platform will combine Spikes Asia’s regional heritage with LIONS intelligence, learning and community programmes.
Middle East and North Africa
In December 2027, LIONS Riyadh will be introduced in partnership with Tahaluf – a joint venture between Informa plc, SAFCSP and EIF – and the Ministry of Media. LIONS Riyadh will create opportunities for local talent and work to connect with the wider international industry. The platform is intended to include a strategic alliance with Athar, run by LIONS’ partner Motivate Media Group, complementing the established Dubai Lynx partnership across the region.
The regional model will extend beyond festivals and awards. LIONS already delivers learning and community-led programmes around the world, including locally developed Brand Marketer Academy programmes in North America, and the CMO Accelerator City Editions across five global cities, and See it Be it Connect programmes around the world.
Thea Skelton, SVP LIONS Festivals, said: “We will work with partners and creative communities in each market to determine what is most useful locally, while bringing this evidence, expertise, and international perspective that exists across LIONS. It is not our intention to replicate Cannes Lions around the world. It’s about making LIONS more useful throughout the year and creating stronger connections between regional communities and the global stage.”
Further details on each regional platform, including programming, participation and partnerships are to be announced with local partners in the coming days.
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will return in June 2027, bringing the global creative community together for its 74th edition.
Further information can be found at www.lions.co.
