African Cristal Festival

Entry Timeline & Fees

Early Bird

June 10 – July 31, 2026

−15% discount on all entries

August – September 2026

Standard fees apply

Introducing the MEDIA CRISTAL

For the first time in its history, the African Cristal Festival is proud to launch Cristal Media, a new awards program dedicated to recognizing the outstanding contribution of media agencies and professionals across Africa.

As media continues to play a pivotal role in shaping brand success, consumer engagement, and business growth, Cristal Media will celebrate the strategies, insights, and innovations that drive impactful campaigns and transform the communications landscape.

Five categories will honour the best achievements in media excellence:

Media Insights & Strategy – rewarding outstanding strategic thinking and audience understanding.
Media Planning – recognizing excellence in planning and media effectiveness.
Use of Channel Integration – celebrating seamless and innovative multi-channel media approaches.
Strategy on Social Media – honoring impactful and creative social media strategies.
Media Use of Data – rewarding the intelligent use of data to optimize performance and deliver results.

Cristal Media reflects the African Cristal Festival's commitment to celebrating every dimension of excellence within the marketing, communication, and creative industries. It is time for media agencies to take their place on the African Cristal stage.

The African Cristal Festival event is the highlight of the ACF and will take place on October 15, 2026. Bringing together the continent's leading minds in creativity, marketing, media, and communication, the event will feature inspiring keynote speeches, insightful panel discussions, high-level networking opportunities, and, of course, the much-anticipated awards ceremony.

At the African Cristal Festival, excellence stands alone. Each category crowns a single winner—there are no silver or bronze awards, no second or third place. Only one entrant earns the ultimate distinction: Number One.

Everything you need to know

Who can submit entries?

Entries can be submitted by any authorized person representing an advertising agency, design outfit, PR company, media company, client, digital company, production company, etc., located anywhere in the world — as long as the work was created in Africa or created elsewhere for implementation in Africa. Work created for the benefit of African Diaspora communities worldwide is also eligible.

Does my company need to be part of an advertising association?

No. African Cristal Festival is open to all agencies and brands, regardless of location. However, the work submitted must have been created, implemented, or released in Africa.

My entry ran in multiple media — should I enter it as a campaign?

No. A campaign at the African Cristal Festival refers to a single idea in a single medium that has been executed in more than one way.

Can I include my agency's name or logo in the Case Board or Case Video?

No. To ensure impartial judging, agency names and logos must not appear in any materials — unless the entry is for a self-promotion campaign.

What happens if my entry includes non-English content?

You must provide English subtitles or a translated transcript so that judges can fully understand and evaluate your work.

How do I navigate the entry portal and make payments?

Click the "Submit your work" button to go to the entry's portal. Register or log in and follow the prompts to submit your entry. You can pay by card or request an invoice for a bank transfer.

2025 was an incredible year and we would like to thank all the participants and winners of this 10th edition.

Are you a professional?

Submit your work

Are you a journalist?

Request accreditation

This accreditation is subject to approval, and each application will be checked and approved by the ACF organisation.

Cristal Village Award

African Cristal Festival in partnership with New York Festivals , is proud to present the NYF Cristal Village Award.
This award celebrates creative brand and experience work that educates for good, recognizing campaigns and initiatives across any channel - with broad appeal, purpose, and driving cultural synergy and understanding.
To qualify for this award, work must embody a strong sense of purpose, inspire new thinking, or deeper understanding, change attitudes and behaviors - for social good. The award focuses on entries that bridge cultures and deliver messages with wide-reaching, positive impact.
Entry fees for submissions in this category will go towards sponsoring Pan-African young creatives to attend the African Cristal Festival and both NYF and The African Cristal Festival hope that such an experience for young talent will change and inspire lives.

About us

A creative entrepreneur, worked in Africa, Asia, Europe and Middle-East, Mehdi El Alj has also received numerous awards (Clio Awards, D&AD, Cannes lions).
Founder of the African Unicorns, he is also behind the return of the African Cristal Festival, a reference event which aims to support marketing, communications and media thanks to networking, worldwide speakers talks and networking of the marketing community. Also through an award that showcases the best creative work and achievements of the African continent.

Mehdi

ACF President

Justin Thomas-Copeland

CEO, 4As
Founder, KINDRD Global
Former Network Agency CEO
Former Chief Digital Officer
Executive Client Partner

Justin Thomas-Copeland is the CEO of the 4As, where he leads efforts to advocate for, modernize and unify the agency ecosystem. With over 30 years of global leadership experience, Justin has helped build and transform agencies and brands at the intersection of creativity, commerce and culture.
He previously served as CEO of several network agencies—including RAPP New York, OPMG Health and DDB North America—and as Chief Digital Officer at Novartis. He has led global client engagements for companies such as Microsoft, Kroger, HPE, Virgin Atlantic, Nokia, Adidas, the U.S. Army, and Novartis.
Justin is the founder of KINDRD Global, a consultancy focused on helping creators and brands grow through culturally fluent experiences. He also serves on several advisory boards, mentors global brand leaders and is a passionate advocate for building inclusive talent pipelines—collaborating with organizations like the T. Howard Foundation, Brixton Finishing School and 100 Roses from Concrete.
He holds a BSc in Business Information Systems and earned his Executive MBA from Babson College.