Unlike most of the world's big film festivals, the BFI London Film Festival sells most of its tickets to the general public. Anyone can book. The 70th edition runs from Wednesday 7 to Sunday 18 October 2026, general sale opened on 17 September, and a further batch of tickets is released on 1 October.
That second release is the detail worth planning around. Screenings that show as sold out in September are frequently available again at 10am on the first of October, and very few visitors know to look.
The festival is run by the British Film Institute, a cultural charity, and it shows around two hundred features and a large number of shorts over twelve days, in London and at partner venues around the United Kingdom. Our guide to London in October covers the month; this page is about getting a seat.
BFI London Film Festival 2026
- Dates
- Wednesday 7 to Sunday 18 October 2026, the 70th edition
- Opening Night Gala
- The international premiere of Elsinore, 7 October
- Closing Night Gala
- The UK premiere of The Debut, the evening of 18 October
- General sale
- Opened 17 September 2026 at 10am
- Extra tickets
- Released 1 October 2026 at 10am
- Ages 16 to 25
- £6 tickets with a free 25 and Under account
- Early booking
- BFI Members book before general sale
The booking calendar, and why it matters
The festival's ticketing runs in stages, and each one changes what is available.
BFI Members book first, before the general public. Then general sale opens to everyone at 10am on a single announced morning, which in 2026 was 17 September. Then, once the programme has settled and the industry and press allocations are finalised, the BFI releases additional tickets. In 2026 that release was 10am on 1 October.
The practical consequence is that "sold out" in the week of general sale does not mean sold out. It means sold out for now. Put the extra-release date in your calendar with an alarm, and check the screenings you missed.
Returns also appear in the system in the days before a screening, and a small number of tickets are usually available on the door at the smaller venues. Neither is reliable, but both are free to try.
The first release is not the last release. If a screening you wanted was gone within minutes in September, look again at 10am on the day of the extra release. This is the festival's least publicised feature and the one that actually works.
How to get into the galas and premieres
The galas are the screenings with a red carpet, the director and usually the cast present, and they are the hardest tickets in the festival. They are not, however, invitation-only in the way a fashion show is. Public tickets exist.
Three routes work, in descending order of reliability.
Book at the first minute of general sale. Be logged in, know the exact title, and be on the site before 10am. Gala tickets go in minutes.
Support the BFI and book early. The BFI sells early-access tickets to the Opening and Closing Night Galas as a fundraising option, at a higher price, before the general public can book. If a specific gala is the reason for your trip, this is the only route that is close to certain.
Pick the second screening. Most gala films screen again during the festival at an ordinary venue without the red carpet. It is the same film, at a normal price, and frequently with a seat still available in October.
Buying from a resale site is a poor idea. Festival tickets are sold in the holder's name and the BFI's terms restrict transfer; our page on common tourist scams in London explains how event resale fraud generally works.
£6 tickets if you are under 26
The BFI sells festival tickets at £6 to anyone aged 16 to 25 who creates a free 25 and Under account. That applies across the programme, not just to a handful of screenings.
For a visiting student that is the cheapest serious cinema in London during October, and it is cheaper than a standard multiplex ticket in the West End. Our guide to London on a student budget covers the other schemes worth signing up for.
The account is free and can be set up before you travel. Do it in advance: you cannot register and book in the same thirty seconds when a popular screening goes on sale.
Is BFI Membership worth it for a visitor?
Membership gives priority booking ahead of general sale, along with year-round benefits at BFI venues. Whether it pays depends entirely on how many screenings you intend to see and how set you are on specific titles.
For one or two screenings chosen loosely, it is not worth it; general sale will get you in. For five or six screenings including at least one high-demand title, the priority window is worth more than the fee. Check the current membership price and the priority booking date on the BFI site before deciding, because the value is entirely in that date.
The strands, and where the good seats are
The galas absorb the attention, but most of the festival is elsewhere, and the rest of the programme is easier to get into and often more interesting.
The festival is organised into strands. Alongside the main feature programme there are Experimenta for experimental film, a documentary strand, a television and streaming series strand, an immersive programme covering virtual reality and other formats, Archive Special Presentations of restored older films, and screenings connected to BFI Flare, the BFI's LGBTQIA+ film festival.
Archive presentations are consistently the best value in the festival: restored prints of films you have heard of, introduced by someone who knows what was done to them, in a half-full cinema at four in the afternoon. The immersive strand is the one that sells out fastest relative to its size, because capacity is tiny.
There is also an Audience Award, voted on by ticket-holders from the opening day, which is worth knowing if you like the idea of your opinion counting for something.
Venues, and the distances between them
The festival's home is BFI Southbank, under Waterloo Bridge on the South Bank, with BFI IMAX a few minutes away at Waterloo. Galas and larger screenings use West End cinemas and venues around Leicester Square, and other screenings take place at cinemas and arts venues across London, including in the east and at the Barbican. Partner venues around the UK show a selection of the programme.
Check the venue on every ticket. Two screenings ninety minutes apart in Leicester Square and on the South Bank are just about possible on foot across Waterloo Bridge; two in Leicester Square and in east London are not. The festival's own schedule shows venues, and the Southbank Centre complex next door is a useful place to wait between films.
Evening screenings often finish after the last train from a mainline station but well before the Tube stops. On Friday and Saturday the Night Tube covers several lines through the night, and late-night food in London is easy to find around Waterloo and Soho.
What a festival screening is actually like
It is not a normal trip to the cinema, and the differences are worth knowing before you book two films in a row.
Screenings usually begin with an introduction from a festival programmer, and where the director or cast are present there is often a question and answer session afterwards. Both add time, and neither is printed on the ticket. Allow half an hour beyond the running time before you plan anything else.
Doors open earlier than at a multiplex and audiences arrive earlier, because the seats are allocated and people want to sit with the friends they booked with. Turning up two minutes before the advertised start is a good way to be seated separately, or not seated at all: festivals enforce latecomer policies more strictly than ordinary cinemas, and once a film has started you may be held outside.
The audience is a mixture of industry, press and the general public, and it behaves like a festival audience: it applauds at the end, it stays for the credits, and it does not talk. If the subtitles are the only version available, that is the version everyone is watching.
Accessibility
The BFI publishes a dedicated page of accessible screenings and events for each festival, covering descriptive subtitles, audio description, relaxed screenings and venue access. It is worth reading before booking rather than after.
The festival brochure is published as a digital download compatible with most screen readers, which makes planning considerably easier than working through a website full of listings.
BFI Southbank and the Southbank Centre are step-free, and Waterloo and Embankment stations both have lifts; our guide to step-free transport in London covers routes that avoid stairs. West End cinemas vary a great deal, so check the individual venue.
If you cannot get a ticket
The festival is not the only thing happening. BFI Southbank runs a full programme all year, including repertory seasons and restorations that are exactly the sort of thing the Archive strand shows in October. The Prince Charles Cinema near Leicester Square and a number of independent cinemas across London do the same.
October is also a strong month for everything else: the theatres are in full season, as our guides to West End theatre and cheap theatre tickets explain, and several museums run late openings. If the weather is against you, our page on a rainy day in London has more, and London at night covers the evenings.
Frequently asked questions
Can the public buy tickets for the BFI London Film Festival?
Yes. Unlike many international film festivals, the London Film Festival is largely a public festival and most screenings are sold to anyone. BFI Members book first, general sale opens on an announced morning in September, and an additional release follows at the start of October.
When is the BFI London Film Festival in 2026?
Wednesday 7 to Sunday 18 October 2026. It is the 70th edition. The Opening Night Gala on 7 October is the international premiere of Elsinore and the Closing Night Gala on 18 October is the UK premiere of The Debut.
How much do tickets cost?
Prices vary by venue and by whether the screening is a gala, and they are shown in the booking system. Anyone aged 16 to 25 pays £6 for festival tickets after creating a free 25 and Under account, which is the cheapest route by a wide margin.
How do I get tickets for a gala screening?
Book at the moment general sale opens, buy early-access fundraising tickets for the Opening or Closing Night Gala, or book the film's second screening later in the festival, which is usually much easier and considerably cheaper. Check the extra ticket release at the start of October if you missed out.
Where do the screenings take place?
BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX at Waterloo are the festival's core venues, with galas and larger screenings in the West End and further screenings at cinemas and arts venues across London. Partner venues elsewhere in the UK show part of the programme. Always check the venue on your ticket before planning back-to-back films.
Sources
- BFI London Film Festival - Tickets and booking dates (checked September 2026)
- BFI - Membership and priority booking (checked September 2026)
- BFI Southbank - venue information (checked September 2026)
- British Film Institute (checked September 2026)