It takes a village: Goafest heads to Taj Cidade de Goa

India’s premier advertising gathering is changing address. Goafest, the country’s most prominent festival of creativity, will in 2025 swap its long-time lodgings at the Hyatt for Taj Cidade de Goa.

“We sought to reimagine the experience, something akin to a festival village, where an entire city bends to the event,” says Mohit Joshi, co-chair of the Goafest 2025 organising committee and chief executive of Havas Media Network India. “This year, that village is Cidade de Goa.”

The Taj Cidade de Goa, comprising the Heritage and Horizon wings, will serve as dual venues for the three-day festival. The event also plays host to the ABBY Awards, India’s most coveted awards celebrating excellence in creative and media advertising.

Imagine the entire property playing host to the event. Also, this helps the organisers retain aspects familiar to the old timers, and add something to lure in the newbies of the advertising and marketing world.

This year’s edition features over 35 sessions, more than 60 speakers, and upwards of 20 masterclasses. Over 2,000 delegates have already signed up. The speaker roster includes senior leaders from Spotify, Nivea, Google, Meta and Hindustan Unilever (HUL).

Adding a dash of recreation to the proceedings is a new sports IP titled Advertising Plays. It is designed to offer delegates a respite from the packed schedule of sessions and masterclasses. Attendees can unwind with pickleball, table tennis, volleyball, and cricket, or opt for yoga sessions and beachside walkathons. In true industry fashion, each sporting activity comes with its own sponsor.

“There is a delicate balance to strike,” says Jaideep Gandhi, chairman of the Goafest 2025 organising committee and founder of the advertising agency Another Idea. “The older generation seeks novelty; the younger, meaning and variety. The village theme helps us serve both.”

The reimagined festival will unfold from May 21st to 23rd, set against the sun-soaked backdrop of Goa’s coastline.