Founded: 1974 | Annual
About this festival
The Telluride Film Festival is Colorado’s most internationally significant film event and one of the most prestigious festivals in the world. Held each Labor Day weekend in the box-canyon mountain town of Telluride, it is deliberately non-competitive — a celebration of the best in film, past, present and future, from around the world rather than an awards race.
The festival is defined by its secrecy: the program is not revealed until attendees arrive in town. Passholders commit to the weekend on what the festival calls blind faith, and the lineup is announced only on opening day. Despite that, Telluride has an outsized reputation as a fall awards bellwether — many eventual Oscar contenders have their North American or world premieres here. Feature films are generally accepted only if Telluride will host their first North American screening.
For 2026, the festival’s 53rd edition, the program spans more than 50 programs across eleven venues, with the most in-demand films repeated throughout the weekend. The festival includes tributes to major film figures, conversations with filmmakers and historians, and the Labor Day Picnic.