2026 Season

Young Lions Azerbaijan

Young Lions is a global competition for creative, media and marketing professionals aged 30 and under, held as part of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Young Lions Azerbaijan has officially represented the country since 2019, enabling young creatives to compete at Cannes. Teams selected through local qualifiers receive a real social-impact brief and have 24 hours to create and present a campaign to an international jury.

Competition Rules

Young Lions Azerbaijan is the local qualifying competition for the global Young Lions Competitions, held as part of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

The competition aims to identify outstanding young creative talent and to select the teams that will represent Azerbaijan at Cannes Lions in the Film, Print, and Design categories.

The competition is open to young professionals aged 30 and under who meet the eligibility criteria. The Young Lions Competitions are open to all eligible participants in Azerbaijan and are held as part of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Teams cannot be refused entry based on not being a member of any association, professional body, or collective.

General Eligibility Rules

  • Participants must be 30 years old or younger (born on or after 26 June 1995).

  • All teams must consist of two (2) professionals.

  • Team members are not required to work at the same company.

  • Participants may only compete in one Young Lions competition at Cannes Lions per yeareven if the dates of the competitions do not overlap.

  • Teams may compete in consecutive years, provided they win the local competition again and meet the age criteria.

  • Students are not eligible to compete in any category.

Category-Specific Eligibility

Design / Print / Film

  • Professionals working in creative communications, advertising or digital agencies

  • Freelancers are eligible

  • In-house creative teams from client companies are eligible

Marketers

  • Professionals working client-side (brand/advertiser companies)

  • Advertising agencies and freelancers are not eligible

Media

  • Professionals working in media agencies or in-house media departments

  • Freelancers are eligible

  • In-house media teams from client companies are eligible

PR

  • Professionals working in PR agencies or in-house PR departments

  • Freelancers are eligible

  • In-house PR teams from client companies are eligible

Registration must be completed online via the official Baku Flames (www.bakuflames.az) website.

Teams are required to submit accurate personal and professional information at the time of registration. In order to verify eligibility, participants must also upload an image of the front side of their identity card to confirm that they meet the age requirement.

Registration confirms acceptance of all competition rules.

Young Lions Azerbaijan is conducted as an online competition.

  • Teams receive a new and previously undisclosed written brief

  • Teams work remotely in pairs

  • Teams have no more than 24 hours from the date and time of their briefing to create and submit their work

  • The Film category is allocated 48 hours

  • All submissions must be sent directly to [email protected]. Participant names and company details may be included in the submission.

  • All submitted work must be original and created specifically for this competition

  • All materials must be submitted in English

  • Failure to comply with the rules may result in disqualification at the organiser’s discretion

Category Availability

The organiser reserves the right to cancel any category that does not receive a sufficient number of registrations. In such cases, teams may be offered the option to transfer their registration to a relevant category, subject to their approval.

The Young Lions Azerbaijan jury is composed of senior industry professionals with expertise across creative, media, design, technology, film, brand management and marketing strategy.

All submissions are reviewed in line with evaluation criteria defined for each category and its specific brief, taking into account the strength of the creative idea, strategic approach, insight, relevance to the brief and quality of execution. The weighting of the criteria for each category is outlined below.


Film

The Creative Idea – 50%
Is the work innovative and surprising?
What is the potential for industry impact?

Strategy (Including Insight) – 30%
Brand relevance, choice of campaign elements, target audience, approach.

Execution – 20%
How well crafted is the work?


Design

Creative Idea – 50%

  • Brand relevance

  • Target audience (consumer demographic, individuals, organisations)

Execution – 50%

  • Design elements and their integration

  • Design touchpoints

  • Materials, style elements, design choices

  • Design development and process

  • Choice of campaign elements

  • Approach

  • Scale


Print

The Creative Idea – 50%
Is the work innovative and surprising?
What is the potential for industry impact?

Strategy (Including Insight) – 20%
Brand relevance, choice of campaign elements, target audience, approach.

Relevancy to the Brief – 20%
Does the work answer the client’s brief?

Execution – 10%
How well crafted is the work?

  • Winning teams will represent Azerbaijan at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, competing in the global Young Lions Competitions.
  • The Baku Flames and Cannes Lions Azerbaijan team, together with sponsors, provide Cannes Lions delegate passestravel to Cannes, and accommodation for the duration of the festival.
  • Visa applications and any personal expenses incurred during the festival, including daily expenses and additional costs, are the responsibility of the participants.

Payments for completed registrations must be made online via the Baku Flames (www.bakuflames.az) website.

The registration fee is EUR 120 per team. Early Bird fee is EUR 100 per team and is valid until March 15, 2026.

Payments are primarily accepted by credit card.
For any questions, you may contact us at [email protected] or via WhatsApp at +994 10 203 5000.

*VAT will be added to the registration fee for payments made via bank transfer.

  • Entry fees are non-refundable

  • Teams may withdraw from the competition at any time before judging begins

  • Withdrawal does not entitle the team to a refund

For questions related to registration, eligibility or the competition process, please contact:

[email protected]
WhatsApp: +994 10 203 5000

Schedule

12.01.26

10:00

Early Bird Registration Opens

Discounted registration period begins.

15.03.26

23:59

Early Bird Registration Closes

Last day to register at the early bird rate.

16.03.2026

23:59

Last Call Registration Opens

Final registration phase starts.

01.04.2026

23:59

Last Call Registration Closes

Absolute deadline for all registrations.

09.02.26

11:00

Jury Announcement

Official jury members are publicly announced.

17.03.26

11:00

Sponsor Announcement

Official sponsors and partners are revealed.

04.04.26

12:00

Local Competition Day

Teams receive the brief and compete locally.

15.05.26

19:00

Winner Announcement

Winning teams representing Azerbaijan are announced during the Baku Flames first-day award ceremony.

16.06.26

10:00

Young Lions Global Competition

Winning teams compete at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France.

Competition Categories

Film
Film

Produce an original 60-second film ad in response to the brief. Note: For this Competition only, the deadline is 48 hours.

Print
Print

Create an eye-catching print ad that answers the challenge in the brief and engages the target audience.

Design
Design

Create a mood board that also includes a description of how your design fits the brief and how it could help the brand evolve.

Sponsors and Partners