On January 22 and 23, 2021, the third AUREA Award took place. The awards honour the best ideas, developments and products from the entertainment sectors. Experts and visionaries from around the world gathered virtually to exchange ideas, network and make contacts.

Following a specialist conference and a presentation of the ten finalists, a jury comprising of leading figures in the industry announced the four winners of this year’s AUREA Award.

The award for the new development with the best experience went to the start-up Feelbelt, a German company that creates a belt that translates acoustic signals into haptic impulses. The belt thereby enables games, films and music to be experienced in a new and intense way.

The jury chose the German project Rebuilt from Memories as the idea with the greatest impact. The American firm Adventure Lab received the award in the Interactive category, with the VR game ‘Dr. Crumb’s School for Disobedient Pets’ especially impressing the judges.

The creative award also went to a US project, to the organisers of the well-known Burning Man festival, an annual event in the state of Nevada. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the entire event was transformed into a virtual replica.

The judges commended the diversity, innovation and creativity of all the projects put forward. Michael Mack, managing partner of Europa-Park and founder of MackNeXT, was impressed by the  future-oriented projects put forward by the finalists. Mack congratulated everyone involved on the implementation of the first digital event in Europa-Park. He commented: “The courage to keep reinventing yourself is what makes family businesses like ours so strong. I am proud that, together with my sister and brother, now in the eighth family generation, I am able to promote Europa-Park with innovative ideas and projects.”