Blackweek, an industry forum dedicated to advancing business by helping brands, creators, and innovators connect with culture, is launching its first awards program in partnership with Cannes Lions.
Debuting at Blackweek 2026 next October, the WARC-certified awards will celebrate work that moves representation forward, both in the creative itself and the teams behind it.
Blackweek and Cannes plan to announce categories, submission timelines, and an official name for the awards in the coming weeks. Both agency and client teams are eligible to apply.
While some categories will focus directly on representation, others will purely be about the work, Andre Gray, Blackweek founder and chief creative officer of Annex88 at Havas, told ADWEEK.
“We want to just be like, ‘This is the best work.’ That’s what we’re geeked about,” he said.
The key difference between these and other industry awards, however, will be the diverse pool of jurors evaluating the work from their different backgrounds and perspectives.
“Being in those jury rooms where I have to argue for the cultural relevance, the cultural competency, the nuance—we need something that is going to have that type of integrity,” Gray said. “We’re creating jury rooms where you don’t have to educate.”
Cannes Lions will consult closely with Blackweek on the awards, lending its expertise, processes, judging criteria, and other aspects of its blueprint. Both parties are still working out financial and ownership details of the partnership.
“We’re taking the equity, the integrity, and the trust that we have with the Black and Brown community and combining it with the best-in-class awards,” Gray said. “Our strategic partnership and endorsement from Cannes Lions is about soaking up their blueprint, not reinventing the wheel.”
In a statement, Simon Cook, CEO of Cannes Lions, added that the organization is “proud to support and endorse the Blackweek Awards, and glad to share our experience in shaping world-class benchmarks that drive economic and societal change.”
“The Blackweek Awards are a necessary and powerful evolution in how we celebrate creativity—one that ensures historically marginalized voices are not only heard but celebrated on a global stage,” he continued.
A different starting point
The launch of the awards comes on the heels of another successful Blackweek, which drew 2,000 attendees to its annual forum in New York City from Oct. 6-9, which is up from 1,300 attendees at its inaugural event in 2024. According to Gray, Blackweek has grown more than 200% in sponsorship and ticket sales year-over-year.
While Blackweek’s founders didn’t always plan to launch an awards program, the support from Cannes Lions will allow them to provide the rigor needed to create a credible new industry program, Gray said.