Cannes Film Festival 2021 has been postponed until July

The event, which was cancelled in 2020, has been pushed from May in hopes of having an in-person festival

The Festival de Cannes, initially scheduled for May 2021, will now take place in July. EPA

The Cannes Film Festival has been postponed from May to July, in hopes of having an in-person event.

Organisers announced on Wednesday that this year's festival will now take place from July 6 to July 17, about two months after its typical period.

The French Riviera festival, which had run for nearly 75 years with few interruptions until 2020, is currently hoping the coronavirus recedes enough by summertime for a full festival to happen.

Cannes last year first looked at postponing its 73rd festival to June or July, before ultimately cancelling altogether. The festival still went ahead with a selection announcement to celebrate the films it had planned to include in its prestigious line-up.

In 2021, organisers are intent on having a festival, one way or another. No details were announced on Wednesday, however, on what its event might look like this year.

If Cannes were to go forward with attendees in cinemas in July, it would be the first major in-person film festival to do so since the Venice Film Festival in September, which saw masked cinemagoers and social distancing on red carpets.

On Thursday, independent film festival Sundance launches with virtual screenings and drive-in events scattered around the US. The Berlin International Film Festival, scheduled for March in Germany, is also planning a virtual event.

During the pandemic, Cannes's central hub, the Palais des Festivals, has been used for hospital beds and, more recently, as a vaccination centre.

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