First time in Bern: Xaver Award 2025 with record participation
With 47 submissions, the Xaver Award 2025 has received more projects than ever before at a regular event. This year's edition will take place in Bern for the first time, bringing it strategically closer to French-speaking Switzerland.
The Xaver Award will be held in Bern for the first time on September 9, 2025. The event is considered the most important award in the Swiss LiveCom industry and is organized by the Swiss LiveCom Association Expo Event. The venue is the newly opened Festhalle on the Bernexpo site. With 47 projects submitted, the award has reportedly received a record number of applications for a regular event - the only time more were submitted was in 2022, when two years were combined due to the pandemic.
The move from Zurich to Bern is intended to facilitate access to western Switzerland and strengthen the format's national appeal. "The Xaver Award and the new Festhalle are a perfect match, as both are important beacons for the event industry," says Expo Event President Christian Künzli. The motto of this year's edition is "Wanted", in reference to the symbolic "Wild West" and the search for outstanding live communication projects.
The awards ceremony in the Festhalle is part of an extensive program: the association's general assembly will take place in the afternoon. Around 500 guests from the industry, politics, business and society are expected to attend the award show in the evening. The official part of the event will be followed by networking catering and an after-party from 10 pm. Guests are invited to dress in Wild West style.
Projects are awarded in the categories Best Corporate Event, Best Consumer / POS Event, Best Efficiency Project, Best Expo Project, Best Brandworlds & Temporary Installations and Exhibitions and Best Public Event. The "Best Exhibition Stand" category will also be awarded for the first time. In addition, the "Public Xaver" via online voting and a lifetime achievement award will be presented.
The jury for 2025 comprises six members from different areas of the industry. New members are Cédric Schlosser from MYI and Iwan Funk from Bellprat Partner. The evaluation of the submitted projects will take place on June 3 and 4 in Zurich's Hallenstadion. The full list of projects will be announced at the beginning of June.
