Date/Time
Date(s) - 21/01/2026 - 18/02/2026
10:00 am - 11:49 pm
Registrations Now Open
Deadline: Wednesday, 18 February 2026, 23:59
Previous Winners:
A fantastic opportunity for you to take home Gold at Cannes!
The PRCA MENA Young Lions PR Competition is the pre-selection competition. The winning PRCA MENA competition team will then go on to compete at the Cannes Young Lions PR Competition that will be held in France this year.
As well as participating in the international competition, the winning duo will spend time at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, soaking up the atmosphere along the French Riviera and participate in all the sessions.
Once teams have registered and paid, they will email details of their team members to Communications@prca.mena.global
How the MENA Competition Works
The MENA competition is based on the actual competition that takes place in Cannes. Each team consists of no more than two candidates and the winning team will be selected to represent MENA at Cannes. A brief will be set by a charity/brand TBC (last year it was the UNHCR) who will act as the ‘client’, and participants are given 24 hours to create a campaign.
The cost to enter is 2,000 AED per (PRCA member) team and 3,000 AED per (non-member) team. The competition is only open to consultancies.
Timeline
Registration opens 10:00 am GST on Wednesday, 21 January 2026.
The MENA competition will take place over an identical time frame as the main Cannes one, but during a working day: Wednesday, 11 March, 2026, 10:00 – Thursday, 12 March, 2026, 10:00 (24 hours).
The brief will be circulated by email at 10:00 on Wednesday, 11 March 2026.
Completed campaigns must be emailed back to PRCA MENA by 10:00 on Thursday, 12 March 2026 – in the form of a 10 page PowerPoint presentation, a 1 page summary slide and a written submission of no more than 450 words delivered as a Word document.
Campaigns will then be judged by a MENA Jury.
Six shortlisted teams will then deliver a 5 minute presentation to a Jury explaining their respective PR campaigns on Thursday, 16 April 2026.
The winning team will be notified by Friday, 17 April 2026
KEY DATES:
Wednesday, 21 January 2026: Registrations open
Wednesday, 18 February 2026: Registrations close 23:59
Wednesday, 11 March 2026: Creative Brief Issued 10:00
Thursday, 12 March 2026: Entries Submissions Deadline 10:00
Wednesday, 25 March 2026: Finalists Announced
Thursday, 16 April 2026: Finalists pitch to MENA Jury
Friday, 17 April 2026: MENA winners announced
22-26 June 2026: MENA winners travel to Cannes Festival of Creativity for the PR Young Lions Competition
MENA Competition Rules and Entry Requirements
The competition is open to full-time working professionals in the PR industry aged 30 years or under (including PR freelancers). Teams must consist of two participants, and organisations may enter multiple teams. Each participant must be aged 30 years or under (born on or after 22 June 1995) and able to travel to Cannes in June 2026.
PRCA MENA will cover two Young Lions 2026 Competitor passes, for both members of the winning team. Please note that flights and accommodation are not included.
For more information, please email Communications@prca.mena.global
