Australia’s best events and strongest achievements in the events industry were announced and celebrated at the Australian Event Awards ceremony last night.
Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth all had a chance to host the Awards with video link technology allowing the events industry nationwide to celebrate with the finalists and winners, even if they were in a different state.
Winners of the Best Event Categories included Splendour in the Grass 2019, Paralympics Australia Infinite Possibilities Gala 2019 and Highway to Hell: Perth Festival 2020 Closing Event among others.
There were also eight Achievement Finalists crowned as winners last night, including Fourth Wall for EventCast, Melbourne Cricket Club and EventsAIR.
The headline categories saw individual and company finalists, such as Jessica Ducrou nominated by Secret Sounds Group, Hannah Milligan nominated by The Company We Keep, Great Big Events and Phoenix Creative Management, walk away with trophies.
This year’s Ceremony also saw the comeback of the ‘Australian Event of the Year’ category. Any Best Event category winners were automatically nominated for the category with the winner of Best Sporting Event, ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020, crowned as the Event of the Year.
“The quality of the entries has meant a very high-scoring year, significantly higher than previous years and the judges have definitely had their work cut out for them,” said Peter Rix, co-chair of the judging panel.
The National Winners for 2020:
Best Sporting Event
ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020
Best Tourism Event
Splendour in the Grass 2019, New South Wales
Best Charity or Cause-Related Event
Paralympics Australia Infinite Possibilities Gala 2019, This Space, New South Wales
Best Congress or Conference
Asia Pacific Cities Summit and Mayors Forum 2019, Carillon Conference Management Pty Limited, Queensland
Best Cultural, Arts or Music Event
Highway to Hell: Perth Festival 2020 Closing Event, Western Australia
Best Corporate Event
Salesforce World Tour Reimagined 2020, The Company We Keep, New South Wales
Best Exhibition, Trade or Consumer Show
PAX Australia 2019, Reed Exhibitions, Victoria
Coates Hire Best Community Event
North Australian Festival of Arts 2019, Townsville City Council, Queensland
Best Small Event
Island Whale Festival 2019, Destination Phillip Island Inc, Victoria
Best New Event
Outback Queensland Masters 2019, Golf Australia, Cre8ion, Weatherall Golf and Krista Hauritz Tourism and Events, Queensland
Best Regional Event
Travelling Light 2019, illuminart Australia, South Australia
Best Achievement in Design, Look or Theming
Public Art Australia for their work on Océan en Voie D’illumination 2019/2020
Best Achievement in Marketing, Communication or Sponsorship
Krista Hauritz Tourism & Events for their work on Stanthorpe Apple and Grape Festival 2020
Best Technical Achievement or Innovation
EvenstAIR for their work on 2019/2020 Congresses and Events
Best Achievement in Venue Management
Melbourne Cricket Club for their work at the MCG
Best New Product
Fourth Wall for EventCast
Best Event Service
Event & Sports Projects Australia Pty Ltd for their work in Group Ticketing & Transport Operations and Communications Service
Best Achievement in Event Education or Training
Australian Marketing Institute for their Virtual Event Best Practice & Ideas Course
Best Achievement in Entertainment
Michael Cassel Group for their work on The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo – Sydney 2019
Young Achiever of the Year
Hannah Milligan nominated by The Company We Keep
Event Producer of the Year
Jessica Ducrou nominated by Secret Sounds Group
Small Event Management Company of the Year
Phoenix Creative Management
Event Management Company of the Year
Great Big Events
