Take it from Joao Paulo, who manages the infamous Gutter Bar where many an evening ends at the advertising industry’s annual confab on the French Riviera: Cannes is back.

“It’s much more busy than two years ago,” Paulo said, with 2,000 or so people stopping by each night and some staying until 6am. “They’re more excited than usual.”

The buzz at the bar matched the broader — at least outward — tone of the Cannes Lions Festival. After a two-year hiatus, executives were happy to mingle on the sunny La Croisette boulevard and beaches this week. However, an undercurrent of anxiety over the economic outlook edged into conversation. ..