Venice Film Festival: How Does the Lido Festival Work?
A festival, an island, a late summer on the lagoon: the complete guide, with what can be booked with us and what is for the Biennale to decide.
Last updated 5 October 2026 · 5 min read
The Venice Film Festival — the Venice International Film Festival, or Mostra — is the film festival that La Biennale di Venezia holds every late summer on the Lido, the island that closes the lagoon on the Adriatic side. For eleven days, films are screened at the Palazzo del Cinema and the neighbouring theatres; some of the seats are sold to the public by the Biennale, online, in the holder's name. Invitations to gala screenings and accreditations are for the Biennale alone. For 2027, the dates of the 84th edition have not yet been published: it is expected in late August – early September. Around it, the stay is composed: a hotel on the Lido or in Venice, boats, evening dress, dinners.
What is the Venice Film Festival?
The Venice International Film Festival is the cinema section of La Biennale di Venezia, the institution that also organises the art and architecture exhibitions in Venice. Every year it brings together films from around the world, presented in or out of competition, and it has awarded its main prize, the Golden Lion, since 1949.
Its story begins on 6 August 1932, with an open-air screening on the terrace of the Hotel Excelsior, on the Lido. The Palazzo del Cinema, completed in 1937 on the seafront, has since hosted the bulk of the screenings, with its main theatre, the Sala Grande.
What sets it apart is the place: an island of beaches and villas, a crossing away from Venice, where one walks between the theatres, the sea and the hotels. Our Venice Film Festival VIP page explains how we compose the stay around it.
When the Mostra takes place: the calendar
The Mostra lasts eleven days, spanning late August and early September. It ran from 28 August to 7 September in 2024, from 27 August to 6 September in 2025, and from 2 to 12 September in 2026. As of 5 October 2026, the Biennale has not yet published the dates of the 84th edition, expected in late August – early September 2027.
For a stay, this calendar has a simple consequence: the opening week and the final weekend are in high demand on the Lido. The table below sets out the verified reference points.
| Edition | Dates | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 81st — 2024 | 28 August – 7 September 2024 | Lido di Venezia |
| 82nd — 2025 | 27 August – 6 September 2025 | Lido di Venezia |
| 83rd — 2026 | 2 – 12 September 2026 | Lido di Venezia |
| 84th — 2027 | Late August – early September 2027 — dates not published as of 5 October 2026 | Lido di Venezia, to be confirmed by the Biennale |
Tickets, invitations, accreditations: who decides
The Mostra is not closed to the public: the Biennale sells tickets for some of the screenings, in the Sala Grande as in the other theatres, exclusively online, a few weeks before the opening and until they run out. These tickets are strictly personal and non-transferable. Passes also exist, depending on the edition.
Gala screenings, meanwhile, bring together film crews, the press, professionals and guests: invitations and accreditations are for the Biennale alone, according to its own criteria. TGZ Conciergerie sells none and promises no access. We can, however, buy your public tickets in your name. Our guide How to Attend the Venice Film Festival details each route.
Living the festival between the Lido and Venice
The festival lasts eleven days; late summer belongs to the lagoon. Days are shared between screenings, the Lido beach and crossings to Venice; evenings, between screenings, dinners and the terraces of the Grand Canal.
A successful stay rests on what is composed: an address chosen for your rhythm, tickets bought early, evening dress prepared for the Sala Grande, tables held, and boats waiting at the right landing stage. If you stay on in the city, Venice offers its palazzi, museums and islands in the same season.
Planning your stay: address, journeys, budget
The address first: on the Lido, you live the festival on foot; in Venice, you return each evening to the Grand Canal, a crossing away from the theatres. Our guide Where to Stay for the Venice Film Festival compares each option, with one point that matters: staying at the Hotel Excelsior gives no access to any screening.
The journeys next: Venice Marco Polo is on the mainland, around half an hour from the Lido by water taxi; from Venice, the vaporetto reaches the Lido in around fifteen minutes. Our guide How to Get to the Venice Film Festival compares each option.
The budget last: every stay is quoted individually, because it is composed. What makes it vary: the address and category of the room, the length of stay, the flight, the boats, the days of stylist, the dinners, the size of the group and the timing of the booking. The price of public tickets is set by the Biennale.
What to remember
The Venice Film Festival is the film festival of La Biennale di Venezia, eleven days every late summer on the Lido; the 2027 dates have not yet been published. Public tickets are sold by the Biennale, in the holder's name; invitations and accreditations are for it alone. TGZ Conciergerie, an independent house not affiliated with La Biennale di Venezia and with no official status, resells no ticket: it buys your public tickets in your name and composes the stay around them — address, boats, evening dress, tables. Every stay is quoted individually, availability and terms confirmed before any commitment.
Frequently asked questions
In late August – early September 2027, for the 84th edition. As of 5 October 2026, the Biennale has not published the exact dates. For reference, the Mostra ran from 27 August to 6 September in 2025 and from 2 to 12 September in 2026.
On the Lido di Venezia, at the Palazzo del Cinema and the neighbouring theatres, along the Lungomare Marconi. The Lido is an island: you arrive by water, from Venice or from the airport.
In part. The Biennale sells tickets for some of the screenings, online, in the holder's name and non-transferable, until they run out. Screenings reserved for the press, professionals and guests are not open for sale.
La Biennale di Venezia, the Venetian cultural institution that also organises the Art Biennale and the Architecture Biennale. The Mostra is its cinema section.
Three to five nights allow you to see several films without rushing the stay, and to keep a day for Venice. We adjust to your screenings and to the 2027 dates, as soon as they are published.
The Biennale states that the red carpet can be seen from the pedestrian areas open to the public and is relayed on screens. Having a ticket for an evening screening does not, however, mean you will walk it: the Biennale says so itself.
No. TGZ Conciergerie is an independent house, not affiliated with La Biennale di Venezia, and with no official status. We sell no invitation and promise no access: we compose the stay around the festival.
Take it further
Your Venice Film Festival stay is prepared now
Tell us how you would like to live the festival — the address, the screenings, the evening dress, the dinners, the boats — and we compose the complete stay, with no invitation or accreditation. A single point of contact, a quote built item by item, availability and terms confirmed before any commitment.