Attending the Festival In-Person

When should I arrive for a screening?

Our Box Office opens 1 hour before the first screening at a venue and will remain open until 30 minutes after the last screening starts.

If there is another screening happening already, we'll do our best to get you into the theatre as soon as we can.

For sold out screenings, we assess if we can sell tickets to the Hope Line once all Passholders and Ticketholders have been seated.

I have my pass but how do I attend the festival in-person? What's the procedure?

Passholders must visit the passholder table (not the Box Office) to have their badge scanned and get a passholder slip before lining up in the queue for the theatre. If a passholder wishes to stay for a second screening, they can collect a screening slip for both shows at the same time.

A minimum of 30% of each house is reserved for passholders. However seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Once we reach the allotment for passholders in a particular venue, we will create a hope line for folks to queue up to enter after all Ticket-holders have entered. While we’ve never had to turn away passholders before, for popular and sold-out screenings, we strongly recommend passholders collect a slip up to 60 minutes before start time at the venue’s Passholder Table to “save” their seat.

I bought a ticket to an unrated screening. What's the procedure?

Great! You have everything you need to attend the film. When you arrive, you can queue up directly in the ticket-holder line. Once all the Passholders have entered, staff and volunteers will ask to scan your ticket and check the proof of purchase of your membership. Both the ticket and the membership can be either digital or physical! Ticket-holders are granted entry after Passholders have entered the theatre.

I'm afraid that the screening I want to see is going to sell out. What do I do to ensure I get a seat?

We recommend buying your ticket in advance and arriving 30-45 minutes before the screening starts so you can secure a spot in the queue. We do have a Hope Line process where folks might be able to buy tickets last minute but it’s not guaranteed.

The screening I want to go see is sold out - What is the Hope Line Process?

We hold a certain amount of seats for Passholders and Complimentary tickets so there is a chance that you could get a seat if you come to a sold out screening. When you arrive at the venue, we will direct you to wait in the Hope Line. Once all passholders and Ticket-holders have entered the theatre, we will get a count of attendees and allow folks from the Hope Line to buy their tickets at the box office.

I want to stay in the theatre in order to watch the next screening. Is that okay?

Yes! We will have volunteer ushers come around to either scan your next ticket or collect your Passholder slip for the next screening.

What accessibility supports has VQFF implemented?

For a full list of our accessibility supports please see our full article on our Accessibility at VQFF.