Athar Awards Expands With New Sports Campaign Category and 80+ Industry Veterans on 2026 Jury

The Athar Awards will introduce a new Best Sport Campaign category and an expanded judging panel of more than 80 industry veterans as part of the 2026 edition of Athar – Saudi Festival of Creativity.

The fourth edition of the Athar Awards is scheduled to take place on November 25 at the Crowne Plaza Riyadh RDC, with entries open to brands, agencies, government entities and in-house teams across Saudi Arabia until September 4.

The 2026 awards will introduce a new cumulative points-based recognition system designed to recognise the contributions of brands, agencies and production partners behind winning campaigns.

Under the new system, points will be awarded to officially credited organisations involved in each winning entry. Performance across categories will then determine the winners of the Brand of the Year, Creative Team of the Year and Production House of the Year titles.

The awards have also expanded entry opportunities for agencies. Nine of the 17 campaign categories will offer dedicated entry pathways for both network and independent agencies.

Ian Fairservice, Chairman of Athar Festival and Managing Partner of Motivate Media Group, said the updated system reflects the changing nature of the creative industry and aims to recognise collaboration more effectively.

He said the points-based approach acknowledges the collective nature of creative work, while the expanded entry pathways reflect the growing diversity of Saudi Arabia's agency landscape.

Mohamed Al Ayed, Vice Chairman of Athar Festival and CEO of TRACCS, said the awards aim to recognise the people and ideas behind the Kingdom's growing creative sector.

New Best Sport Campaign Category

The 2026 awards will also introduce the Best Sport Campaign category, recognising creative marketing campaigns that use sport to support the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, promote national pride and strengthen Saudi Arabia's international sporting profile.

The new category comes as the Kingdom prepares to host major international sporting events, including the AFC Asian Cup and the FIFA World Cup 2034.

Expanded Jury Panel

The 2026 edition will feature the largest Athar Awards jury to date, with more than 80 industry veterans representing leading agencies, brands and government entities.

Jury members have been selected based on their industry expertise and knowledge of the regional market and Saudi Arabia's cultural landscape.

The expanded panel and revised recognition framework are intended to reflect the increasing scale and diversity of Saudi Arabia's creative and marketing industry.