It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for! With just 56 days until the curtain is raised on the 2026 edition of the greatest festival in creativity – Cairns Crocodiles – the 30 teams who will compete across 10 categories for the Cairns Hatchlings, presented by Yahoo are herewith revealed!
Answering a real-life brief from the United Nations, which will be revealed at the festival by none other than the UN Foundation’s CMO David Ohana, the 60 individuals named as this year’s Hatchlings competitors will have just 24 hours (48 for the Video category) to create their masterpieces.
Cairns Hatchlings is an awards program designed to elevate emerging creative talent from across Asia-Pacific. Contestants in Round 1 responded to a variety of briefs from our charity partners and other important partners.
All 60 finalists will travel to Cairns courtesy of the festival with flights and accommodation covered as well as access to the Festival, including its legendary opening party, as part of their reward for making the cut.
This year’s finalists will see teams travel from India and Japan as well as all parts of Australia for a chance at glory.
Of course, arriving at this splendid list of finalists would not be possible without the tireless efforts of our wonderful judges. None of the Cairns Crocodiles would equally not be possible without our marvellous sponsors.
To watch this, as well as the glorious tapestry of events that is the Cairns Crocodiles, delay no further in securing your tickets here.
And so with no further ado, we give you the class of 2026 Cairns Hatchlings.
As is usual with our suite of awards, the information below is what was entered into our various awards portals. If there’s an error, please email [email protected] to get it updated forthwith, lest you win and have a trophy with your name misspelt for posterity.
| Category | Team Member No. 1 | Agency or Company | Team Member No. 2 | Agency or Company | Country |
| Audio | Jazmaree Bell | EssenceMediacom | Kieran Turner | Freelance | Australia |
| Audio | Kym Loats | Nova Entertainment | Connor Bowers | Nova Entertainment | Australia |
| Audio | Shilpi Dey | VML India | Raj Thakkar | VML India | India |
| Design | Shabbir Abbas | VML India | Shruti Negi | VML India | India |
| Design | Oscar Kennedy | Thinkerbell | Luke Sikora | Thinkerbell | Australia |
| Design | Kate Price | Freelance | Euan Thomas | Freelance | Australia |
| Digital | Priyanka Pradeep Gohil | Schbang Digital Solutions | Aman Ganesh Aragonda | Schbang Digital Solutions | India |
| Digital | Disha Nikalje | Omnicom Media Group | Aria Koudounis | Omnicom Media Group | Australia |
| Digital | Yohei Hamada | Dentsu | Kao So | Dentsu | Japan |
| Marketing | Mirai Takimoto | Uber Japan | Tom Ellard | Uber Japan | Japan |
| Marketing | Bradley Johnston | Nine | Magenta Porter | Nine | Australia |
| Marketing | Lavinia Popov | Medibank | Cat O’Brien | Medibank | Australia |
| Media | Summer Treseder | Wavemaker | Kate O’Loughlin | Wavemaker | Australia |
| Media | Leah Franco | Initiative | Ben Breden | Accenture Song | Australia |
| Media | Tracy Meyer | Enigma | Sophie Rivers | Enigma | Australia |
| Out Of Home | Sophie Whitehead | Saatchi & Saatchi Australia | Sophie Harper | Saatchi & Saatchi Australia | Australia |
| Out Of Home | Abby Roberts | Rumble Strategic Creative | Hannah Bryce | Rumble Strategic Creative | Australia |
| Out Of Home | Ruby Meers | POLY, oOh!media | Cara Edwards | POLY, oOh!media | Australia |
| Public Relations | Anastasiia Nazarenko | Palin Communications | Tina Kandelaki | Palin Communications | Australia |
| Public Relations | Alyssa Mair | Hello | Annabelle Dane | Hello | Australia |
| Public Relations | Sam Rouse | Thinkerbell | Aislinn Powell | Thinkerbell | Australia |
| Publishing | Beverly Coutinho | Schbang Digital Solutions | Sneiden D’souza | Schbang Digital Solutions | India |
| Publishing | Kota Ikebe | Hakuhodo | Yusuke Wakata | Hakuhodo | Japan |
| Publishing | Nathan McRitchie | Yango | Mairead Ryan | Yango | Australia |
| Strategy | Elizabeth Nan Tie | Starcom | Darshan Pawani | Starcom | Australia |
| Strategy | Annabelle Harrington | This Is Flow | Sophie Stone | This Is Flow | Australia |
| Strategy | Gabi Richardson | Nine | Susannah Brown | Nine | Australia |
| Video | Lucie Bladinieres | Havas Red | Hettie Headford | Havas Red | Australia |
| Video | Tayla Orr | Nine | George Hulley | Nine | Australia |
| Video | Rhys Delios Callanan | Freelance | Liam Ratliff | Freelance | Australia |
If you’re finding the table hard to read, here’s a plain text list.
Audio
Jazmaree Bell, EssenceMediacom & Kieran Turner, Freelance – Australia
Kym Loats, Nova Entertainment & Connor Bowers, Nova Entertainment – Australia
Shilpi Dey, VML India & Raj Thakkar, VML India – India
Design
Shabbir Abbas, VML India & Shruti Negi, VML India – India
Oscar Kennedy, Thinkerbell & Luke Sikora, Thinkerbell – Australia
Kate Price, Freelance & Euan Thomas, Freelance – Australia
Digital
Priyanka Pradeep Gohil, Schbang Digital Solutions & Aman Ganesh Aragonda, Schbang Digital Solutions – India
Disha Nikalje, Omnicom Media Group & Aria Koudounis, Omnicom Media Group – Australia
Yohei Hamada, Dentsu & Kao So, Dentsu – Japan
Marketing
Mirai Takimoto, Uber Japan & Tom Ellard, Uber Japan – Japan
Bradley Johnston, Nine & Magenta Porter, Nine – Australia
Lavinia Popov, Medibank & Cat O’Brien, Medibank – Australia
Media
Summer Treseder, Wavemaker & Kate O’Loughlin, Wavemaker – Australia
Leah Franco, Initiative & Ben Breden, Accenture Song – Australia
Tracy Meyer, Enigma & Sophie Rivers, Enigma – Australia
Out Of Home
Sophie Whitehead, Saatchi & Saatchi Australia & Sophie Harper, Saatchi & Saatchi Australia – Australia
Abby Roberts, Rumble Strategic Creative & Hannah Bryce, Rumble Strategic Creative – Australia
Ruby Meers, POLY, oOh!media & Cara Edwards, POLY, oOh!media – Australia
Public Relations
Anastasiia Nazarenko, Palin Communications & Tina Kandelaki, Palin Communications – Australia
Alyssa Mair, Hello & Annabelle Dane, Hello – Australia
Sam Rouse, Thinkerbell & Aislinn Powell, Thinkerbell – Australia
Publishing
Beverly Coutinho, Schbang Digital Solutions & Sneiden D’souza, Schbang Digital Solutions – India
Kota Ikebe, Hakuhodo & Yusuke Wakata, Hakuhodo – Japan
Nathan McRitchie, Yango & Mairead Ryan, Yango – Australia
Strategy
Elizabeth Nan Tie, Starcom & Darshan Pawani, Starcom – Australia
Annabelle Harrington, This Is Flow & Sophie Stone, This Is Flow Australia
Gabi Richardson, Nine & Susannah Brown, Nine – Australia
Video
Lucie Bladinieres, Havas Red & Hettie Headford, Havas Red – Australia
Tayla Orr, Nine & George Hulley, Nine – Australia
Rhys Delios Callanan, Freelance & Liam Ratliff, Freelance – Australia
