Annecy  (France) June - International Animated Festival. Annecy has been showcasing the very best in animation for over 45 years, making it the industry's leading international competitive festival.

Animated Dreams (Tallinn, Estonia) November- the one and only Estonian animation film festival, offers Estonian animators a chance to display the state of their art as well as promotes high-quality international animation culture.

Animex (Middlesborough, UK) February - Annual fest of professional talks, exhibitions, workshops and screenings. Every year Animex delivers an enviable list of speakers and contributors from around the world to create what is one of the best events on the festival calendar.

Anifest  (Czech Republic, Trebon) May- International Festival of animated films based in Czech republic.

Aurora (Norwich, UK) November -  Annual festival in Norwich, UK which focuses on the manipulated moving image. A uniquely multidisciplinary, progressive event, it fuses artist retrospectives and thematic film programmes with discussion events, live performance and installations, alongside the very best new work from across the world for space and screen.
(Now discontinued)

Bradford Animation Festival (Bradford, UK ) November - The UK's biggest and longest-running annual animation festival, is a project of the National Media Museum.  Host to masterclasses, seminars, workshops, screenings and special events led by some of the animation industry's top names, the festival's high point is the annual BAF Awards, which celebrate the very best in new animation from around the world.

Develop (Brighton, UK) July- Conference exporing the latset developments, technologies and business models in the Gaming industries.

Edinburgh Interactive Festival (Edinburgh, UK) August- Expanding the Creative Culture of Games- Whether you wnat to meet games industry decision makers, have an insight into the trends and new thinking in interactive entertainment, meet development talent or just play some of the latest games, you need to be in Edinburgh in August!

Flatpack Festival (Birmingham, UK) March- Five days of unique film events in venues all over Birmingham. The festival features many animation and related events and is supported by Animation Forum West Midlands.

Flip Animation Festival (Wolverhampton, UK) November - Flip is an eclectic mix of all things animation. Based in the heart of the Midlands the festival provides a wide range of experiences from educational workshops for young people to experimental animation for grown ups; from industry led panels to feature film screenings and from international showcases and retrospectives of short films to spotlights on animation studios.

The FutureEveryThing Festival (Manchester, UK) May- The inaugural FutureEverything festival (formerly Futuresonic, est. 1995) takes place 12-15 May 2010 in Manchester England. Also see the FutureEveryThing Awards.

Hiroshima (Japan) August- International Animation Festival

Internationales TrickFilm Festival (Stuttgart) May- Since its launch in 1982 the Festival has continued to support animated film, young talented filmakers and the animated film industry working in conjunction with FMX.

London International Animation Festival (London, UK) August/September - The best of the world’s most recent animation. LIAF aims to challenge and inspire audiences with thematic, aesthetic and technical diversity from award winners, outstanding industry veterans and newcomers.

Melbourne International Animation Festival (Melbourne, Australia) June- Get ready to strap yourselves in for a seven day blast of exceptional animation from around the world!  MIAF aims to challenge and inspire audiences with thematic, visual and technical diversity from award winners, outstanding industry veterans and those wonderful newcomers who are exploring their talent on screen for the very first time.

MIPCOM -October- A particularly business-based event, centred very much upon networking and doing business with '12 000 of your peers'. This is one of the  best places for making a sale.

MIPJNR- October- The youth version of MIPCOM, this event is designed as a direct showcase for programmes aimed at children, allowing you feedback on your work through screenings and a 'kids jury' that judges and awards the best animation.

Projector Festival (Dundee, UK) Jan/Feb - An exciting array of animated feature films, shorts and master classes.

Siggraph (California, USA) August - Digital innovators, creative researchers, award-winning producers, provocative artists, energetic executives, and adventurous engineers. The worldwide SIGGRAPH community gathers in San Diego to explore the products, systems, techniques, ideas, and inspiration that are creating the next three generations of computer graphics and interactive techniques.

Swansea Animation Days  (Swansea, UK) November - SAND is the place to meet people, share experiences in CGI and create new ideas for films, scientific visualisation, commercials and games. SAND includes conference sessions on games, procedural animation, films, post production techniques, TV commercials, motion capture, also with animation screenings from around the world, professional sector workshops and business seminars.

Stoke Your Fires (Stoke-On-Trent, UK)- Runs over a period of a month (April), offering competition screenings which reflect the multifacited nature of the industry. There are also opportunities to attend feature screenings and explore some of the lastest technology available to film-makers.

GDC (Games Developers Conference) - Annual March conference on game development, sharing tools, tips and technologies for unbridled professional learning, networking and fun.

Women In Games - Conference encourages research and seeks to promote careers for women within the games industry.   Graduates can also send their films to

The British Council where their arts department may promote them at overseas festivals in-house courses at larger studios can provide a start.

More festivals are listed at Britfilms including international animation festivals.

Other Audio Visual Sector Festivals that may be of interest:

MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival (MGEITF) (Edinburgh, Scotland) August- The worlds leading forum for media and television professionals. Every August MGEITF discuss and debate topical industry issues, hear from ground-breaking keynote speakers and network with industry peers.