How to Attend the Venice Film Festival
Public tickets sold by the Biennale, invitations and accreditations that are for it alone to give: how one really enters a theatre on the Lido, based on public sources.
Last updated 5 October 2026 · 3 min read
To attend a screening at the Venice Film Festival without being a professional, the real route is the public ticket: La Biennale di Venezia sells seats for some of the screenings, in the Sala Grande as in the other theatres, exclusively online, a few weeks before the festival and until they run out. These tickets are strictly personal and non-transferable. Invitations to gala screenings and accreditations — press, industry, delegations — are for the Biennale alone. TGZ resells no ticket and sells no invitation: we can buy your public tickets in your name, subject to availability, and arrange the stay around them.
The short answer: the public ticket, in your name
The Mostra is not a private party: it is a festival, some of whose screenings are open to the public, with a ticket sold by the Biennale. It is the simple route, and the only one that does not depend on an invitation.
This guide describes how access works as the Biennale documents it publicly. One point from the outset: TGZ Conciergerie is an independent house, not affiliated with La Biennale di Venezia, with no official status. We resell no ticket, hold no allocation and promise no access.
How the Biennale sells its tickets
Tickets are bought exclusively online, on the Biennale's ticket office. In 2026, sales opened on 11 August, for a festival beginning on 2 September; the programme of public screenings is published online at the same time. Seats go until they run out: evening screenings in the Sala Grande sell quickly.
Each ticket is strictly personal and non-transferable. The price varies with the theatre and the time; it is set by the Biennale, and we do not mark it up by presenting it as our own: our work is invoiced separately, on a quote. Passes also exist, depending on the edition.
The routes that exist, and the one that does not
Gala screenings bring together film crews, the press and guests. Accreditations — press, industry, film delegations, cinema, students — are issued by the Biennale according to its criteria, on application. None of them is a commercial product.
The table below summarises the real routes.
| Route | Who decides | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Public ticket, in your name | The Biennale, online, until they run out | In the holder's name and non-transferable; we can buy it for you |
| Pass | The Biennale, depending on the edition | Personal and non-transferable |
| Professional accreditation | The Biennale, on application | Reserved for the press, the industry, delegations |
| Invitation to a gala screening | The Biennale and the film crews | Never sold; we do not promise it |
| A "ticket" or "invitation" resold by a third party | No legitimate party | Should raise suspicion: tickets are issued in the holder's name |
The Sala Grande, in the evening
The Sala Grande, at the Palazzo del Cinema, is the festival's main theatre. Some of its seats are sold to the public, including for evening screenings. The Biennale recommends formal attire, and states that walking the red carpet cannot be guaranteed: it depends on how each screening is organised.
The red carpet remains visible from the pedestrian areas open to the public, and is relayed on screens. We will never sell you a "walk up the steps": it cannot be bought.
The other theatres
The festival occupies several theatres on the Lido: the PalaBiennale, the Sala Darsena, the Sala Giardino, the Sala Casinò, the Sala Corinto, the Sala Volpi and the Astra. Their public screenings are often easier to obtain than evening screenings in the Sala Grande, and allow you to see the same films at other times.
We read the programme with you, choose the screenings that matter and buy the tickets in your name when sales open, subject to availability.
What we do, and what we do not
We resell no ticket, sell no invitation or accreditation, and do not approach the Biennale on your behalf. We can buy your public tickets in your name, then arrange everything around the screening: the address on the Lido or in Venice, the stylist, the boat waiting, the dinner afterwards, the return at night.
And if a screening is sold out, late summer in Venice can be fully lived without it. Our Venice Film Festival VIP page presents the whole.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, for some of the screenings: the Biennale sells tickets, online, until they run out. Screenings reserved for the press, professionals and guests are not open for sale.
A few weeks before the festival: in 2026, the online ticket office opened on 11 August for a Mostra beginning on 2 September. For 2027, the Biennale will announce the date; we buy your tickets as soon as sales open.
Tickets are strictly personal and non-transferable. That is why we buy them directly in your name — and in the name of each of your guests — on the Biennale's ticket office.
No. Invitations are for the Biennale and the film crews to give; they are not sold. Any offer to the contrary should raise suspicion. TGZ sells none.
By applying to the Biennale, in the category that matches your activity — press, industry, delegation, cinema, students. It alone decides; we do not intervene.
Not necessarily: the Biennale states that walking the red carpet cannot be guaranteed and depends on how each screening is organised.
No. TGZ Conciergerie is an independent house, with no affiliation to La Biennale di Venezia, and with no official status.
Take it further
Your screenings, bought in your name
Tell us the screenings that interest you, your dates and the number of guests: we buy the public tickets in your name as soon as sales open, subject to availability, and compose the stay around them, on a quote.