The Czech Event Association Awards 2026 Celebrate the Best Events of the Year

B2B Event Supporting Business Relationships

3rd Place

Entrant: dsp
Client: Argo Publishing House
Project:Dan Brown The Secret of Secrets World Launch

The worldwide launch of the novel set in Prague had to impress the global publishing community while strengthening the relationship between the author and his Czech publisher, Argo. The event concept was built around the idea of “entering the story” before reading it – creating the first physical embodiment of the book itself.

The programme design followed the principle of gradually revealing codes and clues, a signature element of Brown’s storytelling. The centrepiece was a custom-made LED installation shaped like an open book, featuring a passage through a keyhole, complemented by a replica of the Codex Gigas and illuminated walls displaying fragments of texts and symbols. The result was a highly immersive environment combining literature, scenography, and technological innovation.

B2P Event Supporting Public Relations

1st Place

Entrant: Event Arena
Client: Česká spořitelna
Project:George Town at Colours of Ostrava 2025

For the Colours of Ostrava festival, the George Town festival zone was created to combine the celebration of Česká spořitelna’s 200th anniversary with a fully-fledged cultural and community experience.

Instead of a traditional brand activation, the project created a functional micro-world where the brand itself became a place for encounters and shared experiences. The architecture was inspired by the logo of the George app and transformed a 2,350 m² area into a complex environment for up to 1,500 visitors, featuring a main stage, bars, a lounge zone, and an observation tower.

The dominant feature was a covered circular space that served as a daytime social hub and an evening music venue. The project brought together scenography, technological innovation, and programming into one coherent experience – from interactive activities and AR elements to water installations and a music programme.

The result was a powerful and sustainable experience demonstrating how architecture and a creative concept can redefine the role of a brand in public space.

Cultural Event (Festival, Concert)

1st Place

Entrant: Signal Production
Client: Signal Production
Project:Signal Festival 2025

Signal Festival 2025 concluded its three-year curatorial concept Ecosystems with the theme Solutions, exploring how digital and light-based art can respond to current ecological, social, and technological challenges.

The goal was to connect outstanding contemporary art with Prague’s public spaces and offer the wider public an accessible yet profound cultural experience. The festival spread across two routes – Centre and Vinohrady – and opened historically and architecturally significant interiors that are normally inaccessible.

International and interdisciplinary collaboration played a key role, connecting cultural institutions, international artists, and technology partners. Signal thus operated as an open platform at the intersection of art, technology, and urban space.

2nd Place

Entrant: SUNDISK
Client: Kultura Jablonec
Project:Jablonecká Perle 2025

Jablonecká Perle was created as an initiative to revitalise the city’s cultural identity and highlight its world-renowned tradition of glassmaking and jewellery production.

The project presents Jablonec nad Nisou as a place where historic craftsmanship naturally connects with contemporary design, culture, and community life. The festival is built around local creators, brands, and institutions, functioning as a curated platform showcasing “the best of Jablonec.”

It brings together music, design, crafts, gastronomy, and community activities into one cohesive experience that strengthens residents’ connection to their city while introducing the region to visitors from across the Czech Republic.

3rd Place

Entrant: VISUALOVE
Client: VISUALOVE
Project:Festival Prototyp 2025

Festival Prototyp 2025 transformed the Yellow Hill Water Reservoirs in Brno into an immersive gallery at the intersection of art, science, and technology.

The project was created as a comprehensive original format – from curation and programming to production – with the ambition of presenting Brno as a centre of creative technologies and making this field accessible to the wider public, especially younger generations.

The site-specific programme made use of the unique character of the underground spaces: darkness, acoustics, and architecture. A route featuring more than 20 installations combined light, sound, interaction, and AI, transforming the visit into a multisensory experience of “another world.”

The festival also served as an open platform, involving more than 100 students in its creation and connecting the cultural scene with education and technological disciplines.

ČEA Single Awards – Gold Selection

CITY EVENT / CELEBRATION

Entrant: Světlo Valmez
Client: City of Valašské Meziříčí
Project: Světlo Valmez 2025

SVĚTLO VALMEZ 2025 transformed Valašské Meziříčí into an open-air gallery of light and sound for one night, attracting tens of thousands of visitors.

The festival treated the city itself as the main medium – streets, parks, and hidden corners became part of both the programme and the experience. The curatorial concept presented 36 installations by international artists and combined site-specific objects, interactive elements, and large-scale projections.

An important element was the work with audience movement: the route naturally guided visitors through the city, creating a rhythm ranging from intimate moments to striking visual highlights.

The festival demonstrates how contemporary light art can activate public spaces, transform smaller cities, and create a powerful cultural experience with an impact on community, local identity, and external perception.

ČEA Single Awards – Bronze Selection

FESTIVAL ZONE

Entrant: MONUMENT Office
Client: Česká spořitelna & Visa
Project:WHAT MATTERS TODAY – Designblok 25

The installation What Matters Today at Designblok 2025 created an interactive space for dialogue about the values shaping contemporary society.

Visitors used a heat press in an open workshop to create their own canvas bags – personal manifestos that became not only creative outputs but also carriers of messages beyond the festival itself.

The project demonstrates how design can function as a tool for participation and communication. It connects creative practice with social impact and sustainability – from working with materials to the long-term dissemination of the theme through the visitors themselves.

All categories and awarded projects can be found on the website of the Czech Event Association.