This year’s remarkable edition of Eventex Awards, which saw a record 1405 entries from 58 countries, was also marked by the new Grand Prix recognition — categories in every track with limited availability, reserved for game-changing creativity that set the ultimate benchmark for excellence.

Winning a Grand Prix is not simply a matter of scoring highly. It means producing work that redefines what is possible in the world of events and experience marketing. This year, only 5 entries managed to earn this distinction. 

And now, let's meet them.

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Rewriting the rules of ceremonies  

Entry name: ARMONIA — Olympic Opening Ceremony — Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games

Agency / Organizer: Balich Wonder Studio S.p.a

Winner in Grand Prix Event 

The Milano Cortina 2026 Opening Ceremony redefined what an Olympic ceremony can be. As the first-ever "Distributed Ceremony" in Olympic history, it abandoned the single-stadium model entirely to unfold simultaneously across Milano, Cortina, Livigno, and Predazzo. 

• The concept was rooted in Armonia — the art of bringing difference into harmony — threading urban Italy and the Alps into a single, coherent narrative.
• Two Olympic cauldrons lit simultaneously, one at Milano's Arco della Pace, one honoring Cortina's 1956 legacy — a quietly powerful statement on peace and convergence. 

The result: 2.5 billion viewers, 90% enjoyment rate, and 70% calling it the most memorable Winter Olympics ceremony ever.

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A different kind of diplomacy

Entry name: Forest Mysteries

Agency / Organizer: LUKA

Winner in Grand Prix Event 

What happens when the forest stops being a backdrop and becomes the host? This five-hour gastro-choreographic performance dismantled every convention of event design — no traditional host, no passive audience, no separation between nature and narrative.

• The hall became a 360-degree forest: 10-metre birches, living moss, and an installation that translated the actual music of broccoli, morels, and leaves into sound — shifting with temperature, light, and noise in real time. 
• Waiters with zero dance experience became trees. Birds landed on guests' heads. 750 dishes arrived as nests, stumps, and roots. Every element, down to the glasses of water, had a voice.

The result: 100% of guests acknowledged that human-nature synergy is rarely discussed in business. Cooperation opportunities opened across 270 entrepreneurs, 5 countries, and 5 industries. Science, art, and a 12-hour setup window did what policy briefings couldn't.

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Correcting history at the speed of light

Entry name: Waltz into Space 

Agency / Organizer: Stargate Group Werbeagentur

Winner in Grand Prix Campaign 

In 1977, NASA's Voyager Golden Records launched into deep space carrying humanity's cultural signature — but somehow, The Blue Danube Waltz didn't make the cut. Nearly 5 decades later, Vienna corrected that omission in the most literal way possible.

• In cooperation with ESA, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra performed the waltz live at the Museum of Applied Arts while the signal traveled at the speed of light via ESA's Deep Space Antenna toward Voyager 1. 
• A beam of light from the museum's rooftop made the invisible transmission visible over the city. All 13,743 notes of the score were opened to the public — claimed by participants from 92 countries, each sending their name into space alongside the music.

The result: 13 billion impressions, 6,500+ media reports worldwide, a 19.3% engagement rate on Meta, and Vienna firmly repositioned at the intersection of culture, science, and innovation. A historic omission became a destination campaign unlike any other — irreversible, real, and still traveling.

22 nations, one standard of excellence

Entry name: Beyond Limits Works at Expo 2025 Osaka

Winner in Grand Prix Agency 

Twenty-two pavilions. One contractor. Six months on an artificial island in Japan — one of the world's most demanding regulatory environments. Beyond Limits didn't just deliver at Expo 2025 Osaka; it redefined what a single agency can hold together at a global scale.

• Operating as a true one-stop shop across construction, exhibits, and operations, the company managed everything from 26-month builds to sub-7-month fast-track transformations — all opening on time. 
• The scope was staggering: Belgium's fully exterior video-mapped pavilion, Saudi Arabia's 3,000+ events including a 10,000-person National Day, Serbia's modular architecture doubling as a platform for Expo 2027 Belgrade. Each pavilion a different brief, a different nation's identity to translate into physical space.

The results: nine BIE awards at the closing ceremony — an unprecedented record — plus eight at the TEDA World Expolympics and five gold medals at the Exhibitor Magazine World Expo Awards. 

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One roof, infinite scale

Entry name: Qatar Vision Production Company "QVision"

Winner in Grand Prix Agency 

Nine major international events in three months. No subcontractors. No outsourcing. One company.

• Qatar Vision Production Company has spent 35 years building something rare in the events industry: a fully integrated production engine where creative direction, scenic fabrication, technical execution, and operations all live under one roof. 
• The model proved itself in the details: modular overlay systems reused across tournaments to cut installation time and optimize budgets; a cinematic opening ceremony for a global energy conference; Match For Hope 2026 blending football legends, digital creators, and live concerts into a broadcast spectacle that generated 25M+ live viewers and 1.2B+ social media views.

The result: 14 global events in 18 months. Billion-plus digital impressions. The region's most awarded production company — and the numbers plainly make the case.

See all Eventex Awards 2026 winners here. 

Onwards and upwards

Want to try to top that excellence? Make sure you’re among the first to know when the next Eventex Awards edition opens, with limited Grand Prix spots available. 

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