04. Best New Event

The 2026 SFEA Awards Committee is excited to offer a revised and streamlined slate of awards to recognize and honor festivals, events, and supporting members of the Southeast Festivals & Events Association.

Awards are part of the Association’s reward and recognition program and are a long-standing tradition of highlighting the best and brightest of festivals, events, and supporting members across twelve states. Our full membership is dedicated to identifying the professionals that raise the bar and provide outstanding examples. We also use this program to set new goals and standards for the profession. We can all learn from each other and give a hardy round of applause to those who distinguish themselves with great work.

While many of the award categories lend to self-nomination, we encourage all planners and supporting members to take a wider look within our membership and submit nominations for other members who are leaders, do outstanding work, and deserve recognition.

All SFEA Kaleidoscope Award winners will be announced only at the 2026 SFEA Annual Conference in Tupelo, MS. Winners in the following categories must be present* at the ceremony to accept the award:

• Best Festival or Event over $75K
• Best Festival or Event under $75K
• Best Festival or Event under $20K
• Best New Event
• Event Professional of the Year

*Attendance at the awards gala is thus mandatory if you apply in those 5 categories.

For additional information please contact:

Jamie McCormick, Operations Manager, info@southeastfestivals.org

This is for submitting for the category of Best New Event: 

This is for a new event started since January, 2025. The new event must be a stand-alone event and not a part of or in conjunction with an existing event. Submit a detailed description of the event including supporting materials, photos, brochures, evaluations, budget, site plan, printed materials, mission statement, etc., that support the overall event.

Submit the following:

• A detailed description of the event
• Supporting material (may be more than one attachment)
• Mission statement
• Estimated number of attendees
• Why was the event created?
• Will it become an annual event?

Award Submissions must be received by: Jan 28, 2026 at 4:00 pm ET

This form and supporting documents must be submitted through Eventeny to be judged. Judging will take place between Feb. 2-13.

You must use a separate nomination form per award, per category. 

Please note: Only Award submissions for which we have received payment will be judged. You can pay for all applications at once through the Payment Application at the bottom of the awards list. Any applications for which payment is not received by 1/31/26 will be declined and will not be judged.