Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival

At present, the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival is the largest gathering of worldwide advertising professionals and advertisers. In 2008, more than 10,000 registered delegates from 94 countries and roughly 12,000 visitors from the advertising and allied industries attended this event to celebrate the best of creativity across all media, discuss industry issues and network with one another.
Thousands of ads from all over the world are showcased and judged. In 2009, more than 22,000 entries were received. Winning companies receive a Lion trophy, honouring the most creative TV/cinema, print, outdoor, interactive, radio, design, PR, sales promotion or integrated advertising campaigns, as well as the best media and direct marketing solutions. Seminars, workshops and keynote addresses are presented by some of the biggest names in the realms of advertising, technology and business. Inspired by the International Film Festival, staged in Cannes since the late 1940s, a group of cinema screen advertising contractors belonging to the Screen Advertising World Association (Sawa) felt the makers of advertising films should be similary recognised. They established the International Advertising Film Festival, the first of which took place in Venice, Italy, in September 1954, with 187 film entries from 14 countries. The lion of the Piazza San Marco in Venice was the inspiration for the Lion trophy. The second festival was held in Monte Carlo, and the third in Cannes. After that, the event alternated between Venice and Cannes before settling in the latter in 1984.