Big Bang Awards 2025 expands into day-long creative festival in Bengaluru

The Big Bang Awards 2025 was held in Bengaluru as a full-day creative festival, marking a format shift for the awards property in its 40-year history. The event brought together over 500 attendees from agencies, brands, media platforms, technology companies and the wider creative community.

The expanded format combined awards with discussions, workshops, music and interactive activities. The daytime programme included participative formats such as a quiz and a photography contest, followed by sessions focused on artificial intelligence and its application in marketing. Speakers from companies including Hawky, Segwise, Sashi.AI, Honeycomb.ai and Team Pumpkin discussed the role of AI in creativity, efficiency and business outcomes.

The event also featured workshops centred on non-traditional formats, including coffee appreciation and music-based sessions, aimed at encouraging interaction beyond formal industry panels.

As the day progressed, the programme shifted to live performances under the BangOn Music Fest banner, along with other stage acts. The evening concluded with the awards ceremony, followed by a music-led afterparty.

One of the key discussion segments was the Founders Circle fireside chat, which focused on the intersection of AI, scale and business transformation. The panel featured Hemant Arora, Bijou Kurien, Aisshwarya DKS Hegde, Ashutosh Sharma, Ashish Thukral and Ebenezer Vidyasagar, and was moderated by Darlington Hector.

The awards segment saw 683 entries submitted by 53 agencies and 172 clients across 16 cities and eight states. A total of 222 winners were recognised across categories, including Gold, Silver and Bronze awards. Key honours included Best Creative Campaign of the Year, agency category awards across creative, digital, design, healthcare and media, and Client of the Year.

The event was supported by multiple sponsors and partners across broadcast, digital, print, events and community platforms.

Speaking on the evolution of the awards, Laeeq Ali, president, Advertising Club Bangalore, said: “Big Bang Awards has always stood for creative excellence, but this year we consciously expanded its ambition. We wanted to create a platform that reflects how our industry works today, where creativity, technology, business, culture and community collide. Turning Big Bang into a day-long festival was about bringing people together, sparking conversations beyond awards, and celebrating the collective energy of the advertising ecosystem in South India. The response from over 500 attendees across the day tells us we are moving in the right direction, bigger, louder, and truly worthy of the Big Bang name.”

Big Bang Awards 2025 was held in Bengaluru and continues to be organised by the Advertising Club Bangalore.

(afaqs! got this information in a press release)