Hello. How can we help you?

From which countries can entries be submitted?

Applications are open to all event organisers across Europe, though most entries come from the region of New Europe (Central, Eastern and Southeast Europe).

What is the timeframe for the submitted events? Can competing events be older than 2 years?

Event agencies can submit events organised between 1 January 2025 and 17 July 2026.

Is the recipient of the award the agency or the client?

In individual categories, in addition to the client, the agency, i.e. the executor of the project, receives the award.

What kind of promotion do you assure?

We make sure each finalist and winner receives exposure through our platforms and on the Unicorn Awards website.

Who evaluates the entries?

The so-called Unicorn Hunters constitute an expert jury comprising well-known experts in event organising, advertising, the press, corporations, and associations. They contribute 80% of the votes whilst the remaining 20% are provided by participants of the event.

What are the evaluation criteria?

Projects are scored on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) according to the following 12 criteria: creativity, relevance, innovation, execution, results, event communication, sustainability, legacy, overall impression, use of technology, participant experience & engagement and, finally, risk management & resilience. Each criterion carries equal weight. Scores are aggregated automatically by the evaluation platform to generate the overall project ranking.

What is the threshold for becoming a finalist of the Unicorn Awards competition?

The minimum threshold score for becoming a finalist in 2026 is 6.01. The threshold for subsequent years is set annually at the jury meeting.

How are events evaluated in-person (live pitching)?

Each finalist is given 4 minutes to present their event to both the jury and the public audience. To encourage creativity and allow flexibility in presentation style, the 4 minutes may be used in one of the following ways:

• Play a 2-minute video and speak for 2 minutes.
• Deliver a 4-minute spoken presentation (optionally speaking over a video).
• Use the 4 minutes freely — through performance (e.g., dance, singing, drawing, etc.)

After the 2-minute pitch, each jury member may ask the presenter questions. The presenter is granted an additional 5 minutes to respond.

How does the audience vote for their favourites?

Audience voting takes place immediately after the pitching session in each category, using the official event evaluation system. Voting is anonymous and restricted to one vote per audience member to ensure fairness and transparency.

What are the main categories of the competition?

In each main category, the top three projects are awarded (1st, 2nd, and 3rd place), based on the combined scores from the jury and the public (80:20 model):

• B2B winner
• B2C winner
• B2E winner
• Crossover winner
• Best Slovenian Event winner