Now just two days away, anticipation is really building for this year’s sell-out Progressive Preschool Awards. For those of you who have been lucky enough to get tickets, here’s a run-down of what you can expect from the big day itself.
As detailed on your individual tickets (beautifully designed by LittleLife) we start the afternoon’s proceedings nice and early, with an 11:45am champagne reception at The Dorchester hotel in London.
The serious stuff starts here, with a glass or two of champagne and the opportunity to get up close and personal with over 400 of preschool’s most influential retailers, suppliers, licensing contacts and industry pioneers. Not forgetting, of course, the A-list Nickelodeon costume characters which will also be working the room – don’t forget to grab them for a selfie!
On that note, any selfies or other pictures you do take and post on social media should be tagged #PPSA18 if you would like them to be shown on the big screen ‘twitter wall’ which will be running throughout the afternoon. Go on, get tagging!
After one additional photo opportunity with Super Wings’ Jett, you can enter The Dorchester’s stunning art-deco ballroom and check out all the fantastic touches which have been added for you to enjoy – the jam-packed goody bags from Skip Hop always deserve a special mention at this point.
Don’t forget to take a look at the beautifully-designed menus from Walker Books as well – and if that makes you start to feel hungry, don’t worry – there will be plenty going on to keep things moving quickly, keeping you entertained and enjoying a wonderful three-course lunch at the same time.
There are also some amazing prizes up for grabs at this year’s raffle – as ever, all proceeds go to industry charity The Light Fund (do try to bring some cash, but don’t worry if you forget to, you can still dig deep with the credit card forms we provide on the day). With fantastic prizes ranging from big tickets to the Royal Albert Hall to your very own exclusive Thunderbirds pinball machine worth £5,000, you’ve got to be in it to win it!
From here, you can sit back and enjoy the proceedings as award-winning comedian Tania Edwards takes to the stage to host the awards, after she has entertained us all with her own unique style of stand-up comedy.
For a reminder of all the deserving finalists, please see the following news announcements: product categories, retail categories, wholesaler category and the marketing category. The recipient of The Outstanding Achievement Award will be revealed on the day.
During the awards themselves, don’t forget to make some noise for all our fantastic finalists and deserving winners – they all deserve huge congratulations for being part of the day’s event. And once the awards themselves are over, don’t forget to come and join us at The Audley for the now-famous after-party, where the fun and games will continue!
For more information on the awards and the judging process, our all-singing, all-dancing awards brochure is now also available to see online in advance of Thursday’s celebrations.
The headline sponsor of the Progressive Preschool Awards 2018 is Alpha Animation and Toys.
Other sponsors of the PPS Awards 2018 include: Toy Fair 2018/BTHA, Toymaster, Harrogate International Nursery Fair/BPA, Redan Publishing, Centum Books, Cooneen, Misirli, Rainbow Designs, Blues Clothing, Aykroyds, Tomy Europe, TDP Textiles, Fundamentally Children, Nickelodeon, East Coast Nursery, Amscan Group, Golden Bear, Hippychick, Cheeky Rascals, Bump PR, BBC Studios, DHX Brands, Diono, Skip Hop, and LittleLife/LifeMarque.
