Australia’s leading events and event professionals were recognised last night, 21 October, at the Australian Event Awards 2020.

Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth each hosted an in-person award ceremony, with a virtual component streamed live across the nation.

Among the winners of the Best Event categories were Salesforce World Tour Reimagined 2020, Splendour in the Grass 2019, Paralympics Australia Infinite Possibilities Gala 2019 and Highway to Hell: Perth Festival 2020 Closing Event.

Harvey Lister was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, while Event Management Company of the Year went to Great Big Events.

Peter Rix, co-chair of the judging panel, said the standard of finalists and winners was extremely high.

“The quality of the entries has meant a very high-scoring year, significantly higher than previous years and the judges have definitely had their work cut out for them,” he said.

The full list of Australian Event Awards National winners 2020

Best Sporting Event
ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020

Best Tourism Event
Splendour in the Grass 2019, New South Wales

Best Charity or Cause-Related Event
Paralympics Australia Infinite Possibilities Gala 2019, This Space, New South Wales

Best Congress or Conference
Asia Pacific Cities Summit and Mayors Forum 2019, Carillon Conference Management Pty Limited, Queensland

Best Cultural, Arts or Music Event
Highway to Hell: Perth Festival 2020 Closing Event, Western Australia

Best Corporate Event
Salesforce World Tour Reimagined 2020, The Company We Keep, New South Wales

Best Exhibition, Trade or Consumer Show
PAX Australia 2019, Reed Exhibitions, Victoria

Coates Hire Best Community Event
North Australian Festival of Arts 2019, Townsville City Council, Queensland

Best Small Event
Island Whale Festival 2019, Destination Phillip Island Inc, Victoria

Best New Event
Outback Queensland Masters 2019, Golf Australia, Cre8ion, Weatherall Golf and Krista Hauritz Tourism and Events, Queensland

Best Regional Event
Travelling Light 2019, illuminart Australia, South Australia

Best Achievement in Design, Look or Theming
Public Art Australia for their work on Océan en Voie D’illumination 2019/2020

Best Achievement in Marketing, Communication or Sponsorship
Krista Hauritz Tourism & Events for their work on Stanthorpe Apple and Grape Festival 2020

Best Technical Achievement or Innovation
EvenstAIR for their work on 2019/2020 Congresses and Events

Best Achievement in Venue Management
Melbourne Cricket Club for their work at the MCG

Best New Product
Fourth Wall for EventCast™

Best Event Service
Event & Sports Projects Australia Pty Ltd for their work in Group Ticketing & Transport Operations and Communications Service

Best Achievement in Event Education or Training
Australian Marketing Institute for their Virtual Event Best Practice & Ideas Course

Best Achievement in Entertainment
Michael Cassel Group for their work on The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo – Sydney 2019

Young Achiever of the Year
Hannah Milligan nominated by The Company We Keep

Event Producer of the Year
Jessica Ducrou nominated by Secret Sounds Group

Small Event Management Company of the Year
Phoenix Creative Management

Event Management Company of the Year
Great Big Events