The Abilene Cultural Affairs Council (ACAC) returned from the Texas Festival and Event Association (TFEA) Conference in Austin, held November 8–11, with 14 awards. The Children’s Art + Literacy Festival (CALF) earned 13 honors in the category for festivals with budgets of $250,001 to $750,000, including nine Gold awards. Vikki Head, ACAC’s Operations Director, was also named TFEA’s Texas Rising Star Outstanding Young Professional.
CALF took Gold for Best TV Promotion Video, Best Festival Event Promo, Best Street Banner, Best Event Program, Best Promotional Brochure, Best Children’s Programming, Best Educational Programming, Best Emergency Preparedness & Risk Management Plan, and Best Event with an Existing Festival, which recognized the CALF Kick-Off Party. The festival also earned Silver for Best T-Shirt Design and Best Sponsor Gift, and Bronze for Best Event Website and Best On-Site Decor.
The results build on CALF’s showing at last year’s conference, where the festival earned four awards. This year, the Emergency Preparedness & Risk Management Plan moved from Silver to Gold, and both the Event Program and TV Promotion moved from Bronze to Gold. Best Children’s Programming took Gold for the second year in a row.
The 2026 festival honored E.H. Shepard, illustrator of Winnie-the-Pooh, in celebration of Pooh’s 100th birthday and set a record, with 6,606 registered attendees from 178 Texas cities and 62 cities across 27 states. The festival’s success belongs to the whole community, including its 98 sponsors and more than 500 volunteers. ACAC also thanks the people who contributed to the award-winning marketing pieces: former ACAC Marketing Director Sidney Levesque, Sheila Kitts, Gabriel McCracken, Marlen Salazar, and Rob Westman.
TFEA’s Texas Rising Star Outstanding Young Professional award honors emerging leaders making an impact in the festival and event industry. As Director of Operations, Vikki oversees performer and venue contracts, city permitting, and safety protocols for CALF. She also created the festival’s Emergency Preparedness and Risk Management Plan.
ACAC staff also attended sessions in Austin on topics ranging from crowd management and volunteer appreciation to sponsorships and marketing strategies, bringing fresh ideas back to the Storybook Capital of America® as planning begins for the 15th CALF, set for June 10-13, 2027.