Golden Drum Announces the Winners of 2026
Great ideas rarely arrive fully formed. Sometimes they begin with a rough sketch, a ridiculous thought or something that does not seem particularly promising at all. For Benjamin Simon and Dirk Schuster, Co-Founders and Creative Directors of FOREAL and this year’s Golden Drum speakers, that uncertainty is an essential part of the creative process. For more than a decade, they have grown FOREAL from a two-person illustration studio into an award-winning creative agency working with some of the world’s biggest brands.
The Golden Drum International Festival of Creativity concluded with the Awards Show, powered by Mastercard, on 13 October 2026, in Portorož, Slovenia.
It celebrated the most outstanding creative work from 30 countries.
The 2026 Golden Drum juries recognized exceptional creative work, bestowing a total of 43 Bronze Drums, 46 Silver Drums, 34 Golden Drums, and 14 Grand Prix awards, out of the 187 shortlisted entries.
Network of the Year went to LePub.
Agency of the Year was granted to LePub, Milan.
Independent Agency of the Year, supported by NLB, was awarded to hasan & partners, Helsinki.
Creative Director of the Year accolade was presented to Silvia Oton, Valentino Borghesi, Peter Dobbyn and Geo Joseph, the creative directors from LePub behind the campaign “The Pub That Refused to Die”.
CARAT Italia secured the title of Media Agency of the Year.
Production Agency of the Year went to Punk Film from the Czech Republic.
Heineken received the coveted Brand Grand Prix.
The UNFPA Inclusion Excellence Award, supported by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), was awarded to hasan & partners, Helsinki, for “How a non-profit fought the social media giants, armed with a bunch of t-shirts”, created for their client Naisten Linja.
Best of Social Good was presented to Saatchi & Saatchi Ukraine, for “The Healing Stage”, created for their client Armed Forces of Ukraine and Psychological center '4Help' and to McCann Poland, Warsaw, for “Here to Stay”, for their client Mastercard.
The Game Changer award, powered by Telemach Slovenia, went to LePub, Milan, for the project, Tocayos, created for Heineken.
The Adriatic Agency of the Year, powered by Zavarovalnica Triglav, became McCann Skopje.
Adding to the evening’s celebration, Mihnea Gheorghiu, Global Chief Creative Officer at LePub Network, was welcomed as the newest member of the Golden Drum Hall of Fame.
In the Young Drummers Competition, held in collaboration with the Mastercard Slovenia, Ilona Zdravkova and Neli Kirova from HUMAN, Sofia, emerged victorious, with their winning poster series “Travel Like a Tourist. Pay Like a Local.”
Congratulations to all the winning projects and the inspiring teams behind them!
See the photos of the winners here.
See the press room here.
See the media materials here.
Check out the showcase of all winning entries here.
Download the complete rankings list here.
Download all winners’ PDFs here.
