Fredrikstad Animation Festival is the oldest and largest of its kind in the Nordic region, dating back to 1994 and the festival Animerte Dager in Oslo, Norway. The annual festival now takes place each November in the town of Fredrikstad, outside Oslo. One of the cornerstones of the festival is the Nordic-Baltic animated short film competition, with the awarding of the prize known as the Golden Gunnar. Fredrikstad Animation Festival is also one of the nine animation film festivals that nominate films for the prestigious European animation award Cartoon d’Or. The festival is a professional arena for the animation industry as well as being an important event for students of and educational institutions within animation, graphic design and digital media production. Each year, top animation industry professionals hold seminars and lectures, and the festival has previously hosted guests from famous studios such as Pixar, Disney and Aardman.