BEA World Festival, the international festival for events and live communication, recognises creativity and quality in projects that connect brands, organisations and audiences through its Best Event Awards competition. Organised by ADC Group, the festival has announced this year’s shortlist, with its 21st edition taking place from 25 to 27 November in Venice.
This year’s edition follows the theme Live is BEAutiful, with new additions including the Grand Prix for Good, a special award for projects that combine creativity and communication effectiveness with a positive social impact. The E-sports Event / Gaming Event category has also been introduced, recognising events that engage the gaming community through competitions, production and interactivity.
Following the initial online evaluation, finalists will present their projects to the jury and audience on 26 November. The jury is chaired by Christian Heubner, Director Experience Communications at Volkswagen, and the final evaluation will determine the category rankings and recipients of the main awards.
From Croatia, KIOSK Branding Conference has been shortlisted in the Congress & Conference category. The conference’s first edition took place on 6 February at Zagreb’s Lauba, with a programme dedicated to contemporary branding, design, culture and communication. We spoke with the KIOSK team about the conference’s development, the creation of its identity and the creative decisions that shaped its first edition in the series Behind the Winning Idea: Every Decision Must Have Its Place.
Slovenia is represented by Launch of the Quatrac Pro 2 by Vredestein Tyres, a project by Creative Pro Group for Apollo Tyres, in the Press & PR Event category. The world premiere of the new all-season tyre from Vredestein was conceived and delivered by the agency’s Slovenian branch. The programme connected five locations, from Brdo pri Kranju and Bled Castle to Pokljuka and the AMZS Vransko centre, allowing participants to test the tyre in different driving conditions. Earlier this year, the project was named the best Slovenian event at the Unicorn Awards.
Among the international contenders, Ferrari Luce World Premiere by Ninetynine stands out with five shortlist placements. Brand activations include Heineken No Lineup Festival, by Brazilian agency Atenas.ag for Heineken, which is competing in three categories. Large-scale productions are represented by the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games and the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games at Milano Cortina 2026, both produced by Filmmaster, while Eurovision 2026 is in the running for Grand Show and organisational complexity management.
The complete shortlist is available on the festival’s official website.
