Under the theme "Turning 10", the festival, which opens on March 14, will feature three new award categories and a special exhibition by advertising artists, as well as other new activities.

Chairman of the AdFest Working Committee Vinit Suraphongchai said new activities would be added to "spice up" the event. New awards will bring the number of categories to 10 and seminars will reflect new trends and developments in the media industry.

For the first time, the festival will also run for a full four days to mark the beginning of its second decade.

"Throughout the past decade, AdFest has made constant progress and gained wide recognition," he said. "Ten years ago, there were just 832 entries, with 200 delegates from 18 cities. Last year, there were 4,738 entries with 1,325 delegates from 53 cities across the region. Such significant growth means that AdFest is well recognised in the region and is ready to move on to the global arena."

Vinai Uesrivong of Plannova said that as well as the new awards, this year's event would mark the first use of a new name - the "Lotus" awards. All existing categories have been renamed TV Lotus, Press Lotus, Outdoor Lotus, DM Lotus, Cyber Lotus, Film Craft Lotus and Print Craft Lotus. This year's three new categories address the rapid development in new media and aim to encourage creativity development, especially in integrated advertising campaigns and outstanding radio advertisements, he said.

Another first this year will be the launch of an Adfest website to increase communication effectiveness.

To mark AdFest's 10th birthday celebration, 10 advertising artists from Sydney, Guangzhou, Bombay, Jakarta, Tokyo, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Bangkok and Singapore have been given a special brief to create an exhibition based on the theme "10 Asian Artists Impression on 10".

Most significantly, AdFest is now a member and one of the founders of The Intercontinental Advertising Cup, Vinai said, describing it as a "festival of festivals". Finalists from each of the world's regional festivals will qualify for the cup, and their work will be judged by an international panel drawn from each region.