The Dubai Lynx International Advertising Festival is a yearly event to award creative excellence in advertising and related fields in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA

MENA

The term MENA, for "Middle East and North Africa", is an acronym often used in academic, military planning and business writing.The term covers an extensive region, extending from Morocco to Iran, including the majority of both the Middle Eastern and Maghreb countries...

).

The festival was started in 2008, a year after the inaugural Dubai Lynx Awards ceremony. It is presented by the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival

Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is a global event for those working in advertising and related fields. The seven-day festival, incorporating the awarding of the Lions awards, is held yearly at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France...

 - owned by British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 publisher and conference organiser EMAP plc

EMAP

Emap Limited is a British media company, specialising in the production of business-to-business magazines, and the organisation of business events and conferences...

 - together with regional partner Motivate Publishing

Motivate Publishing

Motivate Publishing is a company based in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The company was established in 1979 by Ian Fairservice with the launch of What's On, the Gulf region's first English language magazine...

.

In 2009, the event took place from 15-17 March at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Dubai

Dubai

Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...

, United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

, drawing more than 2,000 entries.

The awards

Dubai Lynx juries are drawn from experts in each field from around the world. Each jury is headed by a jury president. They judge submissions in eight categories: TV/cinema, print, outdoor, radio, interactive, direct and sales promotion, media and integrated advertising.

Apart from the awards, the festival includes seminars, workshops, exhibitions and screenings.

In 2009, the awards' rules were changed to force advertising agencies to provide more detail about the client for whom work was produced and the media outlet in which it ran. This followed accusations of plagiarism.

Young Creatives competition

The Young Creatives competition provides an opportunity for young advertising and media talent (no older than 28 years) from the MENA region to demonstrate their skills.

Entrants have 24 hours to create a print or media ad for a charity or non-profit organisation while competing against other teams from the region.

External links

• Dubai Lynx International Advertising Festival Official website