Novatech wins big at Australian Event Awards
The Adelaide company’s expertise in sound, lighting, vision and rigging earned it Production Company of the Year, reflecting years of innovation and teamwork.
When the lights go up on some of Australia’s biggest events, there’s a good chance Novatech Creative Event Technology is behind them. From LIV Golf’s large-scale outdoor concerts to the striking visuals of Vivid Sydney’s Lucid Dream Collection, the South Australian production company has built a strong national reputation for delivering seamless, high-impact experiences – recognition that has now earned it the industry’s top honour.
Novatech was named National Winner for Production Company of the Year at the 2025 Australian Event Awards, a triumph that celebrates the company’s innovation, creativity and technical excellence in event production. The accolade also helped South Australia claim the title of Best Event State, reinforcing the state’s growing clout as a world-class events destination.
For Novatech’s director of sales and marketing, Ashley Gabriel, the recognition is both a proud milestone and a hard-won achievement.“We’re thrilled, it’s been a long time in the making,” he says. “We’ve found it’s a hard award to win – we’ve entered several times over the years.”
The company, based in Adelaide’s inner west, has spent nearly 25 years redefining what’s possible in live production – blending creative vision with cutting-edge technology to craft experiences that wow audiences and elevate events far beyond the ordinary.
“To have the level of experiences we deliver recognised at a national level is important for our guys and our crew, so it’s really special,” Ashley says.
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“We’re pretty unique. We offer a full turnkey solution on audio, lighting and vision rigging. A lot of production companies specialise in one or two disciplines but we’re the opposite. We strive for world-leading delivery across all of the aspects of technical production of events, and I think that’s what was recognised by the judges.”
For its award submission, Novatech showcased three projects that demonstrated its technical and creative range. There was the Adelaide 500 State Dinner, where the team transformed dining tables into animated canvases using projection mapping; the LIV Golf concerts, with global DJs Dom Dolla and Fisher playing to a nightly audience of 27,000 people in an outdoor, immersive light and sound spectacular; and the Lucid Dream Collection at Vivid Sydney, from creators and producers Moment Factory – a futuristic AI photo booth installation that merged art, technology and imagination to create real-time portraits of festival-goers projected onto Martin Place.
“It just shows the breadth of what we do and that we deliver across the country, to varying audiences, varying clients and varying artists,” Ashley says. “I think that’s what stood out to the judges.”
That blend of artistry and innovation has defined Novatech since it first opened its doors in 2000. As the company approaches its 25th anniversary next August, Gabriel says its ethos of “being different” continues to drive every project.
“Throughout the past 24 years we have used our world-leading inventory – like our audio systems and LED screens – creatively in events,” he says. “That’s just what we love doing. We love doing cool stuff, something a little bit different.
“Our crew has a passion for live events and technology,” he says. “Pushing yourselves is really important. It puts yourself outside the comfort zone sometimes. But that’s cool, because the result you get — in the faces of the audience, or the feedback you get from the client about the experience that they’ve had — I think says it all.”
Despite its national footprint, Novatech remains deeply – and proudly – rooted in South Australia.
“We’re headquartered here: all of our crew and our equipment lives here, but we work all over the country,” Ashley says. “We’ve always been long advocates for what South Australia does as a state. The major events say it all – in the last few years, with LIV, Gather Round and the like, it’s all been evolving. And it shows – I think we’ve changed the mindset of interstate people about how they look at Adelaide and South Australia now.”
That transformation was reflected at the Australian Event Awards, where South Australia was crowned Best Event State. For Gabriel, that title is as much about collaboration as competition.
“To be a winner and contribute to that award was a proud moment in our history,” he says. “Big Fish Events also won for its Divine Dining event at St Peter’s Cathedral and we provided their production for that. There were other finalists and nominees from South Australia as well, which all went towards the Best Event State win. We’re thrilled to see that – and a little bit biased. It’s good to see SA on top.”
That sense of shared pride and creativity is what makes Adelaide such a special events hub.
“When an event comes to Adelaide, it’s all immersive – the whole city gets behind it,” Ashley says. “If you come for Gather Round, no matter whether you go down to the beach or to the hills or the Barossa, we just do it so well. All of the suppliers band together, and that’s what makes South Australia such a good spot for major events.”
Having won the award, Novatech isn’t sitting back on its laurels. Having recently delivered Harvest Rock, the company is currently putting together the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships 2025, running from November 14-23. “That’s another global event that is being held here in Adelaide and we’ll show the world just what a big party we can hold,” Ashley says.
Next up comes the Lenny Kravitz concert for the Adelaide Grand Final, followed by LIV Golf, Fringe Festival and more for 2026.
“It’s a whole team effort – we couldn’t do it if it’s just one or two of us,” Ashley says. “This award is really great recognition for our team.”
