Cannes' Festival d'Art Pyrotechnique is underway for its 2026 edition, with six international teams competing across the summer for the festival's top prize, the Vestale d'Or.
Serbia's Pyro-Team D.O.O. opened the competition on July 4 with a twenty minute display timed to traditional percussion. China follows on July 22, then France's Aquareve on August 4, Finland on August 15, and the Czech Republic closing the festival outside competition on August 24. Each display is fired from barges anchored off the Croisette, visible for free from the beaches, the Vieux-Port and the Suquet.
This year's Bastille Day display, on July 14, will be handled by Poland's Nakaja Art and shifted back an hour to 11pm, marking ten years since the 2016 attack on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. A jury of five judges the displays for the Vestale d'Or and the Prix du Jury, while the public votes online after each show for the Prix du Public, announced at the closing night.