​Australia’s best events and strongest achievements in the competitive events industry were announced and celebrated at the Australian Event Awards ceremony tonight at Novotel Twin Waters on the Sunshine Coast.
Queensland shone in fitting form for the Awards’ final year hosted by Visit Sunshine Coast, with almost a third of the winners hailing from the sunshine state. The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games proved a holistic success, taking out the TFH Hire Services Best Sporting Event, with Trade 2018: The Trade and Investment Program also winning Best Exhibition, Trade or Consumer Show. TAFE Queensland took home a trophy for their innovative and immersive training partnership with the Games.
Other big wins included the 29th Annual Byron Bay Bluesfest as the EVENTelec Best Cultural, Arts or Music Event, Splendour in the Grass for Viking Rentals Best Regional Event, and Vivid Sydney took home the trophy for the Visit Sunshine Coast Best Tourism Event.
There was strong thread of innovative thinking evident through winners such as The Big Anxiety Festival of Arts + Science + People (Aggreko Best New Event), the IEEE International Conference of Robotics and Automation (Best Congress or Conference), the Pop-Up Globe (Best Achievement in Design, Look or Theming) and Mediatec Asia Pacific’s work on the Australian Open (Best Technical Achievement or Innovation).
In the headline categories, David Atkins, Lifetime Achievement Winner 2010, took out Event Producer of the Year for the second year in a row. Event Management Company of the Year was awarded to Belle Laide Events, an event management company and creative agency.