The 2026 edition of Goafest kicked off on Wednesday, May 20, with a live music performance by Sukhbir, as professionals from the advertising, marketing and media worlds prepared for a day of spirited exchanges. Industry leaders paid tribute to late ad legends Piyush Pandey and Arun Nanda, and engaged in panel discussions on industry-related topics.
From left to right: Padma Shri Prasoon Joshi of Omnicom Advertising and Prasar Bharti; Singer Sukhbir
From left to right: Shashi Sinha of Omnicom Media India; Gaurav Laghate of Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI); Dr Annurag Batra of BW Businessworld & exchange4media
From left to right: Sudesh Kapoor of AAAI; Sam Balsara of Madison World; Lara Balsara Vajifdar of Madison World; Abhishek Karnani of IAA & Free Press Journal Group
From left to right: Mohit Joshi of Havas Media Network India & Goafest Organising Committee; Jaideep Gandhi of AAAI and Goafest Organising Committee; Srinivasan K Swamy of AAAI; Ajay Kakar of Adani Group; Anupriya Acharya of Publicis Groupe; Rana Barua of Havas India; Amitesh Rao of Leo; Shahad Anand of Mediakart
From left to right: Jaideep Gandhi; Ajay Kakar; Harshad Rajadhyaksha of Ogilvy; Prem Narayan of Ogilvy; Srinivasan K Swamy; Amitesh Rao; Mohit Joshi
From left to right: Padmaja Joshi of NDTV; Prasoon Joshi, Dr Rajiv Kumar of Pahle India Foundation; Nikhil Sharma of Perfetti Van Melle, India
From left to right: Ajay Kakar and Jaideep Gandhi
