--- eventsindex_id: "EI-07114" slug: world-quantum-cannes-festival-2026 title: "World Quantum Cannes Festival 2026" title_alt: ["World Quantum Cannes Festival"] canonical_url: "https://eventsindex.org/events/world-quantum-cannes-festival-2026.html" next_edition_year: 2026 date_start: 2026-11-17 date_end: 2026-11-18 venue: "Palais des Festivals et des Congres de Cannes" city: "Cannes" country: "France" organiser: "Valuexchange and Institut EuropIA" organiser_url: "https://www.worldquantumcannesfestival.com/" b2b: true vector: sector: [quantum-tech] audience: [industry, investor, corporate, startup, researcher] format: [summit] purpose: [content, networking, deal-making] geography_scope: [France] season: autumn meta_description: "World Quantum Cannes Festival 2026: inaugural quantum industrialisation summit, 17-18 Nov, Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France. Full pass EUR 990." editorial_take: "A first edition with an unusually credentialled front row, but its place on the calendar will be decided by whether the investor day produces deals rather than by the names on the honorary committee." generated_by: "claude-max-cowork" last_verified: "2026-08-18" variables_filled: 17/58 language: "en" schema_version: "v6.0" --- # World Quantum Cannes Festival 2026 > *The first edition of a European summit on the industrialisation and commercialisation of quantum technologies, held 17-18 November 2026 at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres de Cannes. It combines strategic conferences, an exhibition floor with a Quantum Startup Award, and an investor day built around curated B2B matchmaking. Co-organised by the events company Valuexchange and the not-for-profit Institut EuropIA, with an honorary committee headed by Nobel laureate Alain Aspect.* --- ## Quick Facts | DATES | VENUE | ORGANISER | ATTENDANCE | |---|---|---|---| | **17-18 November 2026** | **Palais des Festivals et des Congres** | **Valuexchange / Institut EuropIA** | **Not disclosed** | | 2 days, inaugural edition | Cannes, France | Events company and not-for-profit | Industry, investors, startups | ## Definition The World Quantum Cannes Festival is a two-day B2B summit dedicated to the industrialisation and commercialisation of quantum technologies, held at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres in Cannes on 17 and 18 November 2026. It is co-organised by Valuexchange, an events company, and Institut EuropIA, the not-for-profit behind the World Artificial Intelligence Cannes Festival, with support from the City of Cannes and the Alpes-Maritimes Department. The 2026 edition is the inaugural one: there are no prior editions, and no attendance history against which to benchmark it. Governance is split between an Honorary Committee headed by Nobel physics laureate Alain Aspect and a Scientific Committee led by Rainer Blatt of the University of Innsbruck. ## An inaugural edition: what is known and what is not This is a first edition in the plain sense of the term. No previous instalment exists, so figures that mature events publish as a matter of routine, attendance, exhibitor count, number of countries represented, do not yet exist for this one. What is documented is the programme architecture, the pricing schedule, the venue, the committee structure and a speaker roster that already includes several of the sector's recognisable names. Institut EuropIA has an operating record with the same venue and the same city through its artificial intelligence festival, which is the closest available proxy for how the quantum edition is likely to be run. The framing is explicitly commercial rather than academic. The stated subject is industrialisation and commercialisation, not research results, and the format allocates a full component to investor matchmaking. That positioning is a deliberate choice by the organisers and the most useful thing to know when deciding whether the event fits a given agenda. ## The three-part format The programme is built on three distinct components rather than a single conference track. | Component | What it is | Who it is aimed at | |---|---|---| | Strategic conferences | Keynotes and panels covering quantum industrialisation, hardware and supply chain, EU quantum policy and sovereignty, and enterprise adoption | Corporate technology buyers, policymakers, senior researchers | | Innovation and exhibition showcase | Exhibition floor for quantum companies and suppliers, including the Quantum Startup Award | Startups, hardware and component vendors, prospective customers | | Investor day | Curated B2B matchmaking between capital providers and quantum companies | Venture funds, corporate venture arms, founders raising capital | The organisers have not published a component-by-component breakdown of which day each element falls on. Anyone planning a one-day visit should confirm the running order on the official site before booking travel. ## Governance and committees | Body | Lead | Role | |---|---|---| | Honorary Committee | Alain Aspect, Nobel laureate in physics (2022) | Figurehead and scientific endorsement | | Scientific Committee | Rainer Blatt, University of Innsbruck | Programme and content direction | | Co-organisers | Valuexchange (events company) and Institut EuropIA (not-for-profit) | Commercial and operational delivery | | Public backing | City of Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes Department | Host territory support | The two-committee structure is worth reading carefully. A scientific committee chaired by an experimental ion-trap physicist of Blatt's standing sets a floor on programme quality that a purely commercial summit would not otherwise have, while the honorary committee provides visibility. Neither committee runs the commercial side, which sits with Valuexchange. ## What the programme covers Announced themes centre on six areas: quantum industrialisation, quantum hardware and the supply chain behind it, EU quantum policy and technological sovereignty, enterprise quantum adoption, quantum investment and dealmaking, and quantum startups. The emphasis on supply chain and industrialisation distinguishes the agenda from research conferences that organise their content by hardware modality, and the policy and sovereignty strand puts the event in the same conversation as the EU-level quantum debate without giving it an institutional role in that debate. ## Who speaks The announced roster mixes quantum hardware executives, investors and academics. Named participants include Alan Baratz, chief executive of D-Wave Quantum, Michael Biercuk of Q-CTRL, Loic Henriet of Pasqal, Seth Lloyd of MIT, and Hermann Hauser of Amadeus Capital Partners, alongside Alain Aspect and Rainer Blatt in their committee capacities. Companies represented on the programme include IBM, Merck, JPMorgan Chase and Baker Hughes, a spread that reflects the enterprise adoption angle: pharmaceutical, financial services and industrial end-users rather than quantum vendors alone. ## Where it sits on the European quantum calendar The event lands in mid-November, a fortnight ahead of EQTC 2026 in Dublin, which is the EU policy and research assembly convened around the Quantum Flagship. The two are close in date and opposite in character: EQTC is publicly funded, research-anchored and organised around consortia reporting, while Cannes is privately organised, commercially framed and built for dealmaking. France already hosts QBC Summit 2026 at Paris-Saclay, which is closer to a members and industry-association format, and Quantum Infra Summit EU 2026 in Leuven addresses a similar investor-facing audience from the infrastructure side. Cannes differentiates itself less by subject matter than by the combination of an exhibition floor, a startup award and a dedicated investor day in a single two-day block, plus a venue and a city that carry their own convening power. ## FAQ · Identity and audience ### Is this event actually new? Yes. The November 2026 edition is the inaugural one and no earlier editions exist. Attendance, exhibitor and satisfaction figures that would normally inform a decision are therefore unavailable. The organising side is not new: Institut EuropIA has run the World Artificial Intelligence Cannes Festival at the same venue. ### Who is it for? Corporate technology and innovation leaders evaluating quantum adoption, quantum hardware and software companies, startups seeking visibility or capital, investors, and policy participants interested in European quantum sovereignty. The audience type is B2B throughout; it is not structured as an academic conference with contributed papers. ### How does it differ from EQTC? EQTC is the annual conference of the EU Quantum Flagship, publicly funded and centred on research consortia and policy direction. The World Quantum Cannes Festival is privately organised, built around commercialisation, exhibition and investor matchmaking, and has no institutional mandate. Attending one does not substitute for the other. ### What is the Quantum Startup Award? A competition run inside the innovation and exhibition component of the programme, aimed at quantum startups. The organisers have not published the prize value, the selection criteria or the jury composition at last verification. ## The venue: Palais des Festivals et des Congres de Cannes The Palais des Festivals et des Congres sits on the Boulevard de la Croisette in central Cannes and is the venue best known for the Cannes Film Festival, as well as for MIPIM, MIPCOM and Institut EuropIA's own artificial intelligence festival. It combines auditoriums with contiguous exhibition space, which is what allows a conference programme, an exhibition floor and a matchmaking operation to run in parallel under one roof. Nice Cote d'Azur Airport is roughly 25 km east, with coach and rail connections to Cannes station, itself a short walk from the venue. ## The organisers: Valuexchange and Institut EuropIA Valuexchange is the events company handling commercial delivery. Institut EuropIA is a not-for-profit organisation that also runs the World Artificial Intelligence Cannes Festival, giving it an established relationship with both the venue and the local authorities. The City of Cannes and the Alpes-Maritimes Department provide public support, a pattern consistent with how the region has backed technology events as part of its wider conference strategy. Neither organiser has published a target attendance figure for the first quantum edition. --- ## Editorial take *A first edition with an unusually credentialled front row, but its place on the calendar will be decided by whether the investor day produces deals rather than by the names on the honorary committee.* ## How to register and what it costs Registration runs through the official site. Pricing is quoted excluding VAT and is structured around a full pass with an early bird window closing 28 August 2026, a reduced academic rate, and a complimentary invitation track for senior corporate executives. | Pass | Price, excl. VAT | Conditions | |---|---|---| | Full Pass, early bird | EUR 841.50 | Available until 28 August 2026, a 15% reduction on the regular rate | | Full Pass, regular | EUR 990 | Applies once the early bird window closes | | Academic Full Pass | EUR 495 | Half the regular full pass rate, academic affiliation required | | Top Executive Program | Complimentary | Up to 100 invited C-suite executives, by invitation only | The organisers have not published separate exhibitor, startup or investor day-only rates at last verification, nor the eligibility criteria used to select the 100 Top Executive Program invitees. ## FAQ · Access and practicalities ### How much does a standard ticket cost? EUR 990 excluding VAT for a full pass at the regular rate, or EUR 841.50 excluding VAT if booked before 28 August 2026. VAT is added on top of both figures. ### Is there a reduced rate for academics? Yes. An academic full pass is available at EUR 495 excluding VAT, half the regular rate. Proof of academic affiliation is required. ### Can I attend the investor day on its own? Not disclosed by the organiser. Only full passes and the academic pass have been published, with no separate day rate for the investor component. Check the official site before assuming a single-day option exists. ### How do I get a complimentary executive pass? Through the Top Executive Program, which covers up to 100 invited C-suite executives. It operates by invitation and the organisers have not published an open application route. ## First time at World Quantum Cannes Festival? How to prepare - **Book before 28 August 2026 if the budget is fixed.** The early bird window saves EUR 148.50 excluding VAT per full pass, and it is the only published discount besides the academic rate. - **Decide up front which of the three components you are there for.** Conferences, exhibition with the startup award, and the investor day serve different objectives, and a two-day agenda does not stretch to all three if you also intend to hold meetings. - **Request investor day matchmaking slots early.** Matchmaking is described as curated rather than open floor, which in practice means allocation happens before the doors open, not on site. - **Treat this as a first edition when setting expectations.** Programme details, day-by-day running order and side events are more likely to move than at an event with several years of operating history, so reconfirm the schedule close to the date. - **Plan travel around Nice rather than Cannes.** Nice Cote d'Azur Airport is about 25 km from the venue, with rail and coach links to Cannes station; November is off-peak on the Cote d'Azur, so accommodation pressure is lower than during the spring and summer fixtures at the same venue. - **Read the committee list before choosing sessions.** The Scientific Committee under Rainer Blatt shapes the technical programme, which is the clearest available signal of where content depth will sit versus the commercial track. ## Resources | Resource | URL | |---|---| | Official website | https://www.worldquantumcannesfestival.com/ | | Registration | https://www.worldquantumcannesfestival.com/ | | Programme | not disclosed | | LinkedIn | not disclosed | --- **Last verified:** 2026-08-18 **Next review:** 2026-08-29 **Notes:** Inaugural edition, no prior editions and no historical attendance data; all figures below are organiser-published. Pricing sourced from the official site and quoted excluding VAT; the EUR 841.50 early bird rate lapses on 28 August 2026, hence the short review interval. Day-by-day allocation of the three programme components, Quantum Startup Award criteria, exhibitor rates and any investor day-only pass were not published at verification date. Attendance estimate not disclosed by the organisers. **Variables:** 17/58 **Concept definition:** not applicable