In the coming days, dozens of momentous events are set to arrive en force. The ever-enticing list includes some of our world’s most famous cultural and creative-industry gatherings, which are set to welcome attendees virtually and/or in person … and where innovation and mastery are sure to reach new heights yet again. Also at this spectacular time of year, nature beckons us on into everything fresh and new.

Follow this link to explore this year’s Canadian National Exposition, taking place 21 August through 7 September: The Ex.

August Events

• 4 June – 19 September | Celebrate Brooklyn Festival — Brooklyn
• 4 July – 24 August | Pyrotechnic Art Festival — Cannes
• 16 July – 2 August | Fantasia International Film Festival — Montreal
• 24 July – 9 August | Anguilla Summer Festival
• 24 July – 4 August | Ozara Festival — Dádpuszta
• 25 July – 2 August | Vans U.S. Open of Surfing — Huntington Beach Pier
• 29 July – 1 August | Brand Insider Summit: Pharma & Health — Park City
• 29 July – 2 August | Defected Croatia 2026 — Tisno
• 29 July – 2 August | Dekmantel Festival — Amsterdam
• 29 July – 2 August | Lollapalooza — Chicago
• 30 July – 2 August | Wilderness Festival — Oxfordshire
• 31 July – 3 August | BlackStar Film Festival — Philadelphia
• 31 July – 2 August | Newport Jazz Festival
• 31 July – 2 August | Spraoi International Street Arts Festival — Waterford City
• 2–8 | Burbank International Film Festival
• 2–9 | Smukfest — Skanderborg
• 3 | Crop Over Festival Grand Kadooment Day — St. Michael
• 3–5 | The Employee Experience Conference — Nashville
• 4 | How to Write a Winning Brand Positioning Statement — Virtual
• 5–15 | Locarno Film Festival
• 6 | LeBook Connections Mexico City
• 6 | Moving AI from Task Efficiency to Bottom-Line Impact — Virtual
• 6–23 | Melbourne International Film Festival
• 6–9 | QuakeCon — Grapevine
• 6–9 | Untold — Transylvania
• 7–9 | SF Outside Lands — San Francisco
• 7–9 & 14–16 | Splash House — Palm Springs
• 7–30 | Edinburgh International Festival
• 7–8 & 14–15 | Lovefest — Vrnjačka Banja
• 11 | AICP Post Webinar: AI in Post Production — Virtual
• 11 | One Story, Every Channel: Building a Unified Content Strategy — Virtual
• 12–15 | Brand Insider Summit: Retail — Lake Tahoe
• 12–13 | Render Tech Conference & Music Festival — Atlanta
• 14–21 | Sarajevo Film Festival
• 14–16 | WeCanDance — Zeebrugge Beach, Belgium
• 16–19 | Data & Programmatic Insider Summit — Lake Tahoe
• 16–19 | WordCamp US — Phoenix
• 18 | Book Publicity Masterclass — Virtual
• 18 | Build an Ownable Data Model — Atlanta
• 19–23 | SIGGRAPH 2026 — Vancouver
• 20–27 | UX Foundations for Marketers — Virtual
• 21 August – 7 September | The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) — Toronto
• 22 | EditFest LA
• 24–26 | Connect Marketplace — Tampa Bay
• 24–26 | Future of Marketing Summit Australia — Gold Coast
• 25–28 | Edinburgh TV Festival
• 25–30 | gamescom — Cologne & Online
• 25 | Mapping the Customer Journey — Virtual
• 25 | Future-Ready: Your Marketing Career in the Age of AI — Virtual
• 25–30 | MUTEK Montreal — Montreal & Online
• 27–28 | Forward Festival — Berlin
• 30 August – 7 September | Burning Man — Black Rock City

Featured Video: MUTEK Montréal 2026 happens 25-30 August 2026.
Featured Image: An Nguyen via Pexels

The 2026 ESPYS will air live from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on Wednesday, July 15, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and the ESPN App.

All the latest info is available here: https://www.espn.com/espys/

The ESPYS help to raise awareness and funds for the V Foundation for Cancer Research, the charity founded by ESPN and the late basketball coach Jim Valvano at the first ESPYS in 1993. Celebrated nationwide as the biggest night in sports, the ESPYS will once again feature the world’s premier athletes, the sports world’s biggest stars, and the very best sports stories of the year. If you are able, please consider donating to the V Foundation.

Juneteenth is the oldest internationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States of America. Tracing back to Galveston, Texas, when Union General Gordon Granger and his troops enforced the Emancipation Proclamation and freed all remaining slaves in Texas on June 19, 1865, it wasn’t until 2021 that Juneteenth became a federal U.S. holiday.

The lesson shared here from Karlos K. Hill and Soraya Field Fiorio, directed by Rémi Cans of Atypicalist and presented by TED-Ed, tells us this: “Today, Juneteenth holds profound significance as a celebration of the demise of slavery, the righteous pursuit of true freedom for all, and a continued pledge to remember the past and dream the future.” View their full lesson here.

You and your loved ones are cordially invited to join more than a billion of your fellow humans to participate in Earth Day … the only global event celebrated simultaneously by people of all backgrounds, faiths, and nationalities.

On 22 April, join the world’s leaders for Earth Day 2026. There are many ways you can get involved and make a difference for our planet on Earth Day and every day. Join millions worldwide in Earth Day 2026 activities. Attend a local event or plan and register your own. To find a wealth of creative resources to help you celebrate Earth Day in your community, at home, at work and at school, visit https://www.earthday.org

This international event dates back to 1992 when the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development made a recommendation. The following year, 22 March was established as World Water Day. UN-Water sets the theme each year. The global water crisis affects everyone – but not equally. Women must shape the future of water. Where water flows, equality grows.

“Water can be a powerful force for gender equality — but only if everyone plays their part. Individuals, schools, organizations, companies and governments all have a role to play to ensure that where water flows, equality grows.”

Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge gender equality.

Today, I invite you to visit this site – https://www.internationalwomensday.com – where you can better understand how, together, we can speed up the rate of progress worldwide.

With well over a century of history and change, the first International Women’s Day (IWD) was held in March 1911. IWD isn’t country, group or organization specific. It’s a day of collective global activism and celebration that belongs to all those committed to forging women’s equality. Let’s all help fight the good fight. All IWD activity is valid, that’s what makes IWD so inclusive. Join in and make IWD your day by doing what you can to support and advance women. For even more resources and ideas, visit https://www.internationalwomensday.com/Theme.

Recognizing excellence in all areas of design enterprise, the Core77 Design Awards annually celebrates the richness of the design profession as well as the insight and perseverance of its practitioners. Now in its thirteenth year, the Awards program remains dedicated to excellence and inclusivity, offering both students and professionals the opportunity to promote their best work on a global scale across 20 design disciplines.

Last year’s winners: https://designawards.core77.com/2025/
The regular entry deadline is 27 February 2026: https://designawards.core77.com/

The 2026 Innovation by Design Awards honor the designers and businesses solving the most crucial problems of today and anticipating the pressing issues of tomorrow. The competition, now in its fifteenth year, features a range of blue-chip companies, emerging startups, and hungry young talents. It is one of the world’s most sought-after design awards.

Last year’s winners: https://www.fastcompany.com/innovation-by-design/list
The preferred-rate entry deadline is 13 March 2026: https://www.fastcompany.com/apply/innovation-by-design

The Creativepool Annual prides itself as being the most innovative, inclusive and rewarding industry awards program. With free categories, juror feedback, and People’s Choice, The Annual proudly calls itself “The Most Award.”

Last year’s winners: https://creativepool.com/annual/2025/
The entry deadline is 23 April 2026: https://creativepool.com/annual/2026/

Since 1959, Communication Arts has published the best in visual communications from around the world, and the publication’s venerable Award of Excellence is one of the most coveted awards in the industry. Curated by a jury of leading design professionals, creators of works featured in the Communication Arts Design and Advertising Annuals are considered among the highest ranks of their professions worldwide.

Last year’s winners:
https://www.commarts.com/magazine/2025-design
https://www.commarts.com/magazine/2025-advertising
Design entries are due by 8 May, and Advertising entries are due by 26 June 2026: https://www.commarts.com/competitions

Together with my family, I am sending my warmest thoughts to many friends and colleagues worldwide, and feeling a lot of gratitude. I truly appreciate your help in sending daily clicks to https://GreaterGood.com, where our simple mouseclicks can benefit a number of vital causes each and every day.

• The non-profit BeLoved Asheville was established in 2009 with the goal of ending homelessness, poverty, prejudice, and injustice. With the power of community at the heart of its mission, BeLoved embodies love in Asheville and beyond through its Homeless Voice empowerment project, Mutual Support Resource Center, Free Village Farmers Markets, Community Support, Rise Up Studio Art & Music Collective, Street Medic Team, Sanctuary, House Hunters, Grove St. Gardens, and Community-Driven Justice Campaigns. BeLoved promotes social and economic justice, and supports everyone’s rights to the fullness of life in partnership of numerous organizations.
• The Feeding America network is the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, working to connect people with food and end hunger. Donors, staff, and volunteers all play an important role in our efforts to end hunger in the United States.
• Since 1998, Gobble Gobble Give has spent every Thanksgiving feeding the homeless directly. In major cities across America, this group assembles meals, clothing, and care kits for the homeless and its volunteers take these packages directly to the homeless and in-need.

Great things are shaping up, thanks to you and everyone else making plans to participate in the annual #GivingTuesday festivities. This movement began in 2012 as an organized effort dedicated to giving back. As a result, on Tuesday, 2 Dec., charities, families, businesses, community centers, students, and others all around the world will come together to celebrate generosity and to give.

Participation is simple. First, find some way for you, your family, your community, your company or your organization to come together to give something more. Then, tell everyone what you’re doing. The results are sure to contribute to this important new tradition of generosity.

The official website is https://www.givingtuesday.org, and you can also follow this link to download the Social Media Toolkit offering tips on how best to leverage your network and social media sites for this most worthwhile opportunity to make the world better: https://www.givingtuesday.org/participate/

Each year, people all across America gather-up on Thanksgiving morning for a few hours to feed the homeless. Some of these efforts are organized by Gobble Gobble Give, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charity where your vital donations are 100 percent tax-deductible. For their upcoming gatherings in Boston, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Nashville, NYC, Orange County, and San Diego, participants will bring their own dishes and prepare meals using all the food that comes in (and care packages, too). Then, everyone will hit the streets together to give it all away to homeless men, women, and children.

If you are available to get involved with the Gobble Gobble Give festivities this Thanksgiving, participation only takes a few hours, and it very well might change someone’s life, including yours.

Gobble Gobble Give started with one person in 1998, and for Thanksgiving Day 2025, groups in participating cities are set to unite in force, and cook and deliver countless meals. The organization’s earliest impacts were humble: only 28 meals were served the first year. In 2019, Gobble Gobble Give served over 33,000 meals!

To me, Gobble Gobble Give is a shining example of how communities can come together around important ideas to make the world a better place. To learn more about this organization and contribute, please visit https://www.gobblegobblegive.org.