Mumbai: The Montreux Festival has announced an extension of the entry deadline for the 2026 edition of its prestigious Golden Award, allowing submissions until April 7, 2026. The global competition invites entries across advertising, media, digital, design, film, branded content, and events.
Recognised as one of Europe’s premier platforms for creative excellence, the Montreux Festival has, for over three decades, been regarded as a precursor to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The awards are open to agencies, advertisers, production houses, media companies, and design and event firms from around the world, covering campaigns released since January 1, 2025.
Winners at the Montreux Festival gain significant global visibility, with their work featured on AdForum—a key gateway to the international advertising community—as well as other leading global creativity platforms, often ahead of the Cannes Lions Festival.
The awards maintain a distinctive structure, recognising excellence through only two categories—Gold and Finalist—positioning Finalist honours at par with Silver-level recognition at other major global festivals.
Indian agencies delivered a strong performance at the 35th edition held in April 2025, securing four Golds and 12 Finalist honours. Notable wins included Havas for The Times of India’s “Ink of Democracy” campaign in the print category, Enormous Brands for Wok Tok by Veeba in TV Film (Food & Beverages), Tribes Communication for Nerolac in Ambient Media, and Tree Design for Tata Tea’s Durga Puja packaging design.
Additional Finalist recognitions were awarded to agencies including BC Web Wise, Atom Network, Brave, Wibe Creative, White Rivers Media, Tree Design, and Hashtag Orange for campaigns spanning categories such as digital, media, and branded content.
The 2026 jury comprises leading global creative professionals, including James Cullum Welch (GroupM UK), Joseph Dubruque (McCann Paris), Rafal Rys (Havas Warsaw), Marcelo Lourenco (Coming Soon Portugal), Luis Silva Dias (FCB International), Olivier Teepe (Signature Switzerland), Joern Welle (la Red Germany), Daniel de Hora (UFPB), Mitesh Kothari, Oisin James Deady (12am UK), Ajay Chandwani, and Barbra Aparo (Fashion TV).
Alongside the Golden Award, the Montreux Talent Award continues to serve as a global platform for students and young professionals in advertising, digital content, and design.
Organised as an independent forum committed to advancing creative standards in collaboration with the Institut for Future Science, the Montreux Festival has developed into a globally recognised benchmark for innovation and excellence in advertising and communication.
Details of entry form and categories are on goldenawardmontreux.com.
