More than 10,000 delegates took part in Cannes Lions this year, making 2008 the biggest festival to date. The big news for our region is that Fortune Promoseven Doha have made history by becoming the first agency to win two Gold Lions at Cannes.

The Qatari agency landed a gold in the press category for its campaign for EA Games' Medal of Honour, adding it to the gold it won for the same campaign in the outdoor category.

It also took home a silver yesterday in the press category for its series of print executions for Bayer Advanced - Plant Food.

The three wins mean that not only is FP7 Doha the first Qatar agency to win at the prestigious festival, but it is also the most awarded agency ever from the Middle East, managing to land two golds in one year. The only other agencies to have struck gold at the Cannes Lions are Tonic Communications in 2005 and Wunderman in 2006, but they have only won one gold apiece.

Also joining the party in Cannes, France, were FP7 Doha's sister agency Fortune Promoseven Dubai, which took home a silver in the press category for its campaign for Sony Microvault.

JWT Dubai also took home a bronze in the press category for its Red Dress work for Nicola Finelli/Tigerlily.

The total awards haul so far means it is the best year on record for the Middle East, which in the past has only managed to win a total of two awards in any given year. The best previous year was in 2006 when Team Y&R won a silver alongside Wunderman's gold. Last year no agencies from the region won anything.

The Cannes Lions International advertising Festival is the world's premier advertising festival and is considered a benchmark for global advertising excellence.

This year witnessed a record number of 616 entries from the Middle East and North Africa, up significantly on last year's total of 440.