With a record-breaking number of entries of 4,076, the Abby Awards, powered by One Show, are all set to take place at the Goafest from 21 May to 23 May.

Ahead of the awards, Manifest caught up with Ajay Kakar, chairperson, awards governing council, The Abby Awards, and managing committee member, The Advertising Club; and Rana Barua, president, The Advertising Club and group CEO, Havas India, South East and North Asia, to discuss about what’s different at the awards this year.

On how the awards have been constantly evolving as per the industry needs, Kakar said, “We have been here for 56 years and for any awards to survive this long, it has to be strong and contemporary. We have kept ourselves strong by making sure that every year we bring in the needed improvements. Four years back we partnered with the One Show that brought an international perspective, processes and overview. We have also been contemporary and have changed categories to reflect categories of tomorrow.”

Now in its 56th year, the Abby Awards is in its fourth year of partnership with The One Show. 

This year, the Abby awards saw an all-time high of 4,076 entries from 233 participating organisations. “Abbys is the only award which is by the industry, for the industry and of the the industry. This year it is going to be the largest and the best that we have ever seen,” added Kakar. 

Out of the total entries, 2,678 came from the creative front and 1,398 from the media. 

On the juror front, Kakar added, "Any award is as good as the jurors. We have 25 jury chairs. The total jurors were 401 and we had a 65:35 male to female ratio."

The awards have received entries from agencies, client brand companies, digital and technology agencies and client brand companies, content and video film production companies, design and direct firms, publishers, media agencies, and broadcasters.

Barua added, "This is the 56th year of the Creative Abby and 16th year of the Media Abby – an institution that has long celebrated the best in Indian advertising. Over the last four years, our partnership with The One Show has taken the Abbys to a new level, giving it global stature and scale. With world-class judging standards, a sharper international lens, and the credibility of one of the most respected creative institutions in the world, this collaboration has given the awards a renewed sense of purpose. Today, the Abby Awards are not just a celebration of excellence in India – they are a stepping stone to global recognition. That’s clearly reflected in the response this year, with over 4,000 entries from more than 230 agencies across creative, media, PR, health, and other disciplines – the highest in the last five years. We’ve also added several new sub-categories in AI and tech, and introduced three new categories in Media Abby to keep pace with the evolving landscape. With an international jury at the festival and a three-day celebration makes the Abby more global and richer in depth, and also bolder, braver, and built for the future.