Almost 100 programme segments, more than 200 speakers, 10 festival locations and five stages, 791 competition entries, nearly 170 experts involved in juries and organisational bodies, and 151 partners and sponsors. Within such impressive parameters, the twelfth edition of Dani komunikacija was held from May 7 to 10 at Hotel Lone in Rovinj, gathering several thousand participants and once again demonstrating how today’s communications industry develops through meeting points, exchange of experiences and the direct collision of different market perspectives.
This year’s edition of the festival very clearly showed that Dani komunikacija today functions far beyond the format of a traditional festival. Through lectures, discussions, competitions and numerous informal encounters, Rovinj for several days became a space where new ideas are simultaneously tested, industry standards redefined and questions opened that will very quickly become part of the market’s everyday reality.
The Main Hall as a Cross-Section of an Industry That No Longer Fits Into One Perspective
The main hall programme gathered speakers whose work has for years shaped the modern communications and creative industry, while at the same time opening an interesting contrast between different approaches to how the industry today thinks about creativity, business, technology and audiences.
Jürgen Schmidhuber spoke about the development of artificial intelligence from the perspective of someone who helped build it, without simplification and without trying to make complex processes sound “easier” than they really are. Julie Supan focused on the structure behind brands that survive long term, while Mark Pollard and Chris Do opened the question of how strategic thinking can be transformed into market value.
Steve Keller spoke about sound as a serious communication channel that the industry still often underestimates, while Dora Pekeč brought experience from working in a political context where communication has direct and very concrete consequences.
It was precisely this combination of perspectives that provided the clearest picture of an industry that no longer functions through one dominant way of thinking. The lectures naturally connected with one another, but often also diverged in approach, further highlighting how quickly the market is changing and how today’s communications industry must simultaneously understand technology, culture, business and audience behaviour.
“I am proud that over the years we have developed a festival that has outgrown the framework of an event and become a platform that actively develops the profession, encourages collaborations and opens topics that will shape the industry. This is exactly what was visible this year through the audience reactions, because people were not just listening, they were thinking and carrying those ideas further,” said Dunja Ivana Ballon, Festival and Programme Director.
Competitions as a Reflection of the Real State of the Market
The competitive part of the festival once again offered the clearest insight into the state of the regional communications industry. A total of 791 entries across BalCannes, IdejaX, MIXX Awards Croatia powered by Admixer Media, Effie Awards Croatia and Young Lions Croatia showed how many projects are currently being developed within the market and how many enter a serious evaluation process.
The judging system, which includes multiple rounds and a large number of domestic and regional experts, has over time become a kind of filter between projects that merely look attractive and those that truly have strategic grounding, contextual relevance and well-argued results.
The works that progressed further very clearly reveal the patterns the market today recognises as relevant, from ideas that have clear logic and purpose to execution that matches the moment and the audience being addressed. Everything outside of that today struggles to retain the industry’s attention. In that sense, festival competitions are no longer just a showcase of the best campaigns, but also a mechanism through which the industry defines its own standards.
Topics the Industry Can No Longer Ignore
This year’s Dani komunikacija programme opened conversations about artificial intelligence without technological hype, about regulation without abstract formulations, and about communication responsibility without softening the issues.
Lectures and discussions continuously addressed topics such as communication measurement, the relationship between creativity and business results, changes in audience behaviour and the growing influence of platforms on decision-making.
Particularly notable were discussions about the pressure placed on communication in real time, decision-making within complex systems and the expectations now imposed on brands, agencies and media from all sides of the market.
The audience reacted very clearly to content that goes beneath the surface and attempts to offer concrete, applicable insights, while the different opinions of speakers further emphasised just how complex the current industry moment has become.
The Part of the Festival That Does Not Exist in the Schedule
One of the reasons why Dani komunikacija has for years maintained an important position within the regional industry lies precisely in the part of the festival that is not formally written into the schedule.
Morning activities, evening concerts and a range of parallel experiences this year again formed an important layer of the festival dynamic. Morning running and yoga, DKlub in the evening, Porto Morto by the sea, helicopter rides, an escape room and flash tattooing all created a space where conversations continued long after the microphones were turned off.
It is precisely in such informal encounters that ideas, relationships and collaborations are often formed, later turning into projects and decisions that shape the market. Dani komunikacija 2026 ended at the moment it became clear that the communications industry no longer has the luxury of simplifying its own work. What remains after the festival are not only impressions, but also criteria that will very quickly be applied to everything that comes next.
