KIAF 2025: bold creativity and international recognition

The submission process for Ukraine’s creative advertising festivals – Ukrainian Creative Awards (UCA) – has officially begun. To help you navigate the differences between the festivals, understand their target participants and set expectations, we will provide a detailed overview of each. Let's start with the main festival – Kyiv International Advertising Festival. 

KIAF is the most prestigious, largest and longest-running advertising festival in Ukraine, held since 2000. Among the four UCA festivals – KIAF, ADC*UA Awards, Ukrainian Design: The Very Best Of and MIXX Awards Ukraine – it is the only one with international status. As a result, KIAF attracts participants from all over the world, meaning entries compete not only with domestic projects but also with global ones.  

Additionally, KIAF features an international jury panel. With the exception of the CLIENT'S VIEW category, judged by Ukrainian marketing experts, all other juries consist of top international professionals from various disciplines in the global advertising industry. 

Despite the competition and rigorous judging process, KIAF offers every participant in the advertising industry a chance to gain recognition. It boasts the broadest contest program among all UCA festivals, featuring 44 contests and 459 categories, divided into four main blocks: 

·       CREATIVE COMMUNICATIONS is focused on the big creative idea in different disciplines.

·       CRAFT/ TECHNOLOGY is recognized creative excellence and brilliant execution in some of the key segments of advertising and communication production process, as well as the creative use of technology and techniques where technology plays an important role in communication.

·       SOCIAL GOALS CONTESTS is rewarded and celebrated campaigns that use creative communications to make changes and positively impact the world.

·       CLIENT`S VIEW is evaluated industry projects and award creativity, originality of communication solution with account of its results to solve business tasks. 

This means that regardless of your company's specialization or the specifics of your case, you will find the most suitable categories within KIAF. 

Each of the 44 contests will recognize finalists (SHORTLIST), winners (GOLD, SILVER, BRONZE), and one overall winner – BEST OF CONTEST. The number of winners and finalists is not limited, but not all categories are guaranteed to have winners or finalists. 

At the end of the festival, four GRAND PRIX awards will be presented to the best works within the four main festival blocks: CREATIVE COMMUNICATIONS, CRAFT/TECHNOLOGY, SOCIAL GOALS CONTESTS and CLIENT`S VIEW. 

So, the international creative community is highly focused on KIAF, making it the competition where your work is most likely to be seen and recognized by foreign industry experts. 

Moreover, KIAF is the most prestigious festival for advertising creators in Ukraine and is included in the National Ranking of Creativity and Craft in Ukraine. 

If you want to be part of the world of bold creativity and strive for international recognition, submit your work to the Kyiv International Advertising Festival. 

Early Birds Deadline – March 1

Submissions are open at creative-stories.com.ua 

General Partner – Nova Post. Delivering victories from Ukraine worldwide.