The awards will be granted at the Golden Drum Awards Show held on 10 October 2023 in Portorož, Slovenia.

The festival welcomes among entrants four new European markets - Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland, and presents a brand-new competition pillar Creative Media Excellence Drum section. With it, the festival also introduces a new award for the best Media Agency of the Year. Newly added to the competition is also a Game Changer group intended for campaigns that challenge the traditional ways of advertising. This is the only group in the main competition that is open to entrants worldwide.

Agencies, advertisers, clients, design/production houses, media companies, and other creatives from 42 countries are invited to enter their works in six diverse sections: One-Channel Drum, Omni-Channel Drum, Craft Drum, Creative Media Excellence Drum, Creative Business Excellence Drum and a special All Juries Section.

Golden Drum festival is included in the WARC Creative Rankings.

Young Drummers Competition

Young creatives under 30 years old from all around the world have again the opportunity to put their skills to the test by participating in the Young Drummers Competition done each year in collaboration with the Slovenian Tourist Board.

This year's brief titled "A date with a masterpiece" is searching for the best poster idea. The winner will receive a 1.000 EUR monetary prize and a free pass to attend the Golden Drum Festival.

Leading the 5-member Young Drummers Jury is Mykola Kovalenko, Founder and Design Director, Mykola Kovalenko Studio, Ukraine/Slovakia.

Extending Partnership with Little Black Book and AdForum

Golden Drum has extended its partnership with Little Black Book - all Grand Prix at the festival will be directly, and free of charge, entered into the competition of The Immortal Awards.
The company with the winning entry will receive a complimentary membership to Little Black Book.

Golden Drum is once again included also in AdForum Business Creative Report, a unique ranking of the world's most-awarded campaigns by industry sector.

Golden Drum Competition Juries

Golden Drum competition will be judged by 66 jury members from the region and beyond, 50% of the juries are comprised of female professionals:
 

• Pancho Cassis, Partner and Global Chief Creative Officer, DAVID, USA/Spain - One-Channel Jury,
• Aaron Starkman, Global Chief Creative Officer, Rethink, Canada - Omni-Channel Jury,
• Ashwini Deshpande, Co-Founder Director, Elephant Design, India - Craft Drum Jury,
• Barbara Evans, Managing Partner, Mediaplus Group, Germany - Creative Media Excellence Jury, and
• Daniela Iebba, Director of Communications, Global HeinekenŸ Brand - Creative Business Excellence Drum.

This year's juries also include a selection of professionals from Hungary. They are:
 

• Orsolya Szládovics, Creative Director, Wavemaker - One-Channel Jury
• Andrea Toth, Chief Creative Officer, Kastner Budapest - Craft Jury