PROGRAM

The Festival Reception, perched on the 11th floor of the stunning Grand Hotel Bernardin, will welcome delegates from 8 AM to 8 PM. This is your first stop to collect your official festival wristband—your all-access pass to everything Golden Drum has to offer during its vibrant run. Thanks to our partner Mastercard, Golden Drum is proudly a cashless experience. That means faster service, safer transactions, and absolutely no cash accepted at any festival venue. Just tap, pay, and play!

Prepare for a day filled with bold ideas, fresh perspectives, and creative inspiration. This year’s programme brings together visionary speakers from around the world, thought-provoking talks, and engaging sessions designed to challenge, inspire, and spark meaningful conversations.

To be announced.

As a wise, heavily copyrighted short green creature once said: do or do not - there is no try. As an industry, we’re spending way too much time theorizing about ideas and not enough time making them happen. This talk is a heartfelt but probably disjointed attempt at bringing back a mischievous culture of makers to creative departments.

Most people in advertising spend their sharpest hours on their dullest work. Fitz Maro, Head of the Americas, Design Technology at Amazon’s Brand Innovation Lab, has spent the past year building a second brain that handles everything but the work only he can do. Live on stage, he’ll show you how he uses it, how it connects to the tools our industry uses, and how you can build one for yourself. The future starts when AI handles the repetitive work and you spend more time thinking, deciding, and creating.

Creatively awarded work has a greater than 10x return on investment for clients. But the global advertising scene is dominated by big markets, with bigger budgets. How does work from other places break through? In this talk, David Guerrero who started his career in London before moving to Asia, looks at what it takes to identify, develop and showcase breakthrough ideas to a global audience. He argues that it takes a global perspective, local insight, and true understanding of a brand’s assets to create outstanding work.

To be announced.

Join us for one of the most anticipated moments of the festival as we reveal the winners of the Bronze and Silver Drum Awards—recognizing bold ideas, standout storytelling, and the craft that’s setting new benchmarks across the industry.

A chance to network, recharge and refresh before we continue with the second half of the festival’s sessions brimming with the latest trends and creative insights. Golden Drum delegates can enjoy special lunch offers on the 11th floor of Grand Hotel Bernardin and relax on the terrace while listening to the music brought to them by Radio Capris.

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An enduring brand isn’t built by chance—it demands three non-negotiable forces: strategic intellect, emotional depth, and uncompromising craftsmanship to reflect the value of the brand and leave that lasting impression. In this session, Emma Follett, Chief Creative Officer at Design Bridge and Partners, unpacks the framework behind iconic branding. Discover how uniting Head, Heart, and Hands unlocks a brand’s true soul, transforming big ideas into lasting cultural legacies.

To be announced.

Every creative talk these days seems to revolve around AI. FOREAL co-founders Dirk Schuster and Benjamin Simon take a step back to the most human tool in the creative process: the sketch. Through real case studies, they show how rough scribbles on paper became the starting point for viral hits, rescued projects, and unexpected creative directions. Expect honest behind-the-scenes stories about the messy and sometimes ridiculous reality of running a CGI studio. And a reminder that a pencil and a stupid idea still go a long way.

Somewhere right now, a fantastic idea is dying in a meeting — killed by five words we’ve all heard: "We’re not touching the product." In this talk, Carl Ewald Jannerfeldt shares how he’s managed to circumvent those roadblocks—sometimes successfully, sometimes less so—to get surprising, occasionally borderline stupid ideas into a company’s most sacred domains: the product itself. A case for treating your own product as the biggest marketing asset you have—and your product team as your closest ally.

Media shapes behaviours, beliefs and brands. But the media ecosystem around the world is changing fast; who creates, controls and shapes our media experiences. The future of media creativity for brands now requires a much more diverse skillset collaborating together. This session will draw on some of the most innovative experiments we’re already seeing and speculate on what might be next.

To be announced.

Let the celebrations begin! Join us for an elegant evening of drinks, inspiration, and connection as we toast to the future winners of the Golden Drum Awards. We’ll gather on the 12th floor of Grand Hotel Bernardin, in the stunning foyer of the congress hall, to raise a glass to bold ideas and boundary-pushing creativity. Indulge your taste buds with Gramona Farm’s culinary delights, brought to you with love by Portorož & Piran—a perfect pairing for a night of celebration. Mingle with award nominees, jury members, and industry trailblazers as we kick off the festivities in style. This is more than a reception—it’s a tribute to the creative spirit that drives us all.

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The highlight of the 32nd Golden Drum Competition! Join us for this special gala event where we will once again honour great creativity.

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As the sun sets on another unforgettable Golden Drum, it’s time for one last celebration. Fresh from the Awards Show, join us in raising a glass to this year’s winners, remarkable creativity, and the inspiring moments we’ve shared throughout the festival. With DJ Alex Dee Groove behind the decks, great company all around, and the dance floor waiting, the Golden Sunset Party is the perfect way to close this year’s edition. Here’s to bold ideas, new connections, and the winners who inspired us all. Let’s celebrate together and end Golden Drum on a high note.