The Golden Drum Festival returns this autumn to Portorož, where on 12 and 13 October 2026 the international creative, marketing and advertising community will once again gather for a two-day programme of inspiration, innovation and professional networking. The host venue will be the Grand Hotel Bernardin, a long-standing central meeting place for the industry on the Slovenian coast.
Over more than three decades of existence, Golden Drum has grown into one of the most visible gathering points of the creative industry within the European advertising space. The festival has played an important role in the development of the communications scene by positioning regional creativity as a relevant factor within the global industry.
Each year, the Festival brings together projects that reflect the specific cultural, social and economic context of the region, confirming that local perspectives often generate ideas that receive international recognition and respect.
“Wild West” of creativity: focus on quality, not quantity
This year’s Festival concept, developed in collaboration with the agency Aritmija, is inspired by the metaphor of the contemporary creative “Wild West”. In a time of content hyperproduction, accelerated technological change and the increasingly strong influence of artificial intelligence, the emphasis is shifting from quantity to the quality of creative solutions. Organisers emphasise that today’s challenge is not to produce more ideas, but to create better, more relevant and long-term valuable ideas.
The festival symbol this year becomes the lasso, a metaphor for skill, focus and timeliness, symbolically “capturing” solutions that truly stand out, not necessarily the loudest or most extreme, but those that demonstrate genuine creative excellence.
Golden Drum remains known as one of the most accessible and professionally respected creativity festivals, which over the years has successfully navigated industry and market changes. Its mission remains the same: to recognise ideas that not only communicate but also have the potential to positively impact society and the industry. The new edition of the Festival continues the tradition of connecting creatives, agencies, brands, media and technology professionals. The programme will include lectures, discussions, project presentations and awards, with a special focus on contemporary challenges of creativity in the era of digital transformation and artificial intelligence.
Under the slogan “Welcome to Wild. Wild. Best.”, Golden Drum 2026 aims to remind the industry that true creative value does not lie in the speed or volume of production, but in ideas that leave a lasting mark – professionally, culturally and socially.
