Passes Now On Sale for the 2026 Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival in its 51st Year

This fall, celebrate mountain culture alongside industry leaders in writing, filmmaking, and adventure with events including the annual Festival Marketplace, mountain-inspired art exhibitions, the return of BanffPitch, and mountain mixers with music. 2026 Festival and Weekend Passes are now on sale! 

BANFF, AB, MAY 5, 2026 – Since 1976, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity has been an industry leader in the celebration of mountain culture in all its forms. Running from October 31 through November 8, 2026, the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival invites people from around the world to find inspiration in mountain experiences through film, books, workshops, and other events on campus and downtown. Passes are now on sale.

The festival is a space for filmmakers and writers to meet and exchange ideas. In 2025, Banff Centre celebrated 50 years of the festival and record-breaking attendance of over 21,000. Highlights included the Fire and Ice Symposium, a public symposium exploring the role of storytelling in creating positive impact and action through the lens of changing ice and wildfires and the first-ever BanffPitch session, an initiative to support emerging filmmakers. The 2025 festival also awarded the Mountain Film Competition Grand Prize to Iron Winter, directed by Kasimir Burgess and the Mountain Book Competition Grand Prize to Thirty Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the First All-Women's Ascent of Denali by Cassidy Randall.

Festival and Weekend Passes for the 2026 Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival are now on sale, with two options: 

• Chomolungma Passes 
  Chomolungma Passes provide the ultimate festival adventure, the best available seats to all events in the Jenny Belzberg Theatre as well as tickets to all non-overlapping events throughout the nine days, including our popular book events. This pass also includes VIP Parking, a festival gift bag, VIP reception, the Online Film Pass, and more!
   
• Weekend Passes 
  Visitors can also plan a weekend at Banff Centre with the purchase of opening (Oct. 31 to Nov. 2) or closing (Nov. 6 to 8) weekend passes. These passes also include the best available seats to all Jenny Belzberg Theatre and literary events, the Online Film Pass, festival poster, and more!

Priority hotel bookings are also available for 2026 Festival passholders! 

With nine epic days of events, international guest speakers, and exhibitions, the 51st Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival will thrill adventure film lovers and outdoor enthusiasts once again, featuring returning Presenting Sponsors Banff Lake Louise Tourism and Rab.

In 2026, the Film Competition returns with $35,000 CAD in cash and prizes, awarding filmmakers for capturing storytelling through adventure, climbing, environment, snow sports, and more. Submissions are open until 11:59 p.m. (PDT) on August 5th, 2026. 

The internationally recognized Banff Mountain Book Competition celebrates mountain literature in all its forms with $26,000 in cash prizes and seven awards selected by an international jury of writers, adventurers, and editors. The 2026 Book Competition is accepting entries until June 30.

The Festival Marketplace also returns in 2026, giving visitors the chance to engage with every facet of mountain culture. Festival partners will be on site with the latest gear and apparel, local artisans will have booths displaying unique mountain gifts, and best-selling authors will sell signed copies of their books. 

This year, Banff Centre is excited to announce the return of BanffPitch, an initiative that began in 2025 to support emerging filmmakers. On November 7, five applicants of all ages and from around the world pitch their film ideas to an international jury in front of a live audience. The winning pitch will receive a $25,000 CAD cash award to support their film project. Other cash and prizes are also available for second and third places. In 2025, the grand prize went to Echoes of memory by Mateo Arango Guerrero. Entries are accepted until June 30.

As part of the festival’s commitment to championing creativity in mountain spaces, this year will feature exhibitions exploring the intersection of mountain culture and art. Following the success of the Mountain Photo Competition, Banff Centre has opened its doors to other artistic media, including 2D visual and digital works. Exhibitions exploring themes of adventure, wildlife, mountain sport, the environment, and natural history will be on display throughout the festival. Artists have until June 1 to apply.

Banff Centre’s rich history of supporting Mountain Culture is well-documented in our BANFF @Altitude Podcast. With each episode, dive into the festival archives and hear stories from some of the world’s top mountain athletes, adventurers, storytellers, and many more. Stay tuned for updates on season two of BANFF @Altitude featuring past festival guests to be released later in 2026.

The full 2026 schedule will be announced on July 28. Single tickets for events at Banff Centre locations will also go on sale July 28, 2026. 

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See Banff Centre’s Media Room here.

For photos, information, or interview requests, please contact:

Carly Maga                             
Director, Communications                         
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity             
tel: +1.403.763.6210                
cell: +1.403.431.3423                
carly_maga@banffcentre.ca 

About Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival

Created over 50 years ago, the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival has become the premier event of its kind in the world. The nine-day Festival hosted by Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Banff, Canada, showcases the world’s best films, books, and photographs on mountain subjects —climbing, culture, environment and natural history, exploration and adventure, wildlife, and sport—and attracts the biggest names in mountaineering, adventure filmmaking, and explorers as presenters and speakers. An international jury will also award over $40,000 CAD in prizes for films and books submitted to this year’s Festival competitions. banffmountainfestival.ca    

About Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity

Founded in 1933, Banff Centre is a post-secondary institution built upon an extraordinary legacy of excellence in artistic and leadership development. What started as a single course in drama has grown to become a global organization leading in arts, culture, and creative decision-making across dozens of disciplines, from the fine arts to Indigenous Wise Practices. From our home in the stunning Canadian Rocky Mountains, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity aims to move everyone who attends our campus—artists, leaders, thinkers, and audiences—to unleash their creative potential and realize their unique contribution to build an innovative, inspiring future through education, performances, convenings, and public outreach. banffcentre.ca

Banff Centre
107 Tunnel Mountain Drive
Banff, Alberta
Canada
T1L 1H5
403.762.6100
www.banffcentre.ca

We recognize, with deep respect and gratitude, our home on the side of Sacred Buffalo Guardian Mountain. In the spirit of respect and truth, we honour and acknowledge the Banff area, known as “Minihrpa” (translated in Stoney Nakoda as “the waterfalls”) and the Treaty 7 territory and oral practices of the Îyârhe Nakoda (Stoney Nakoda) – comprised of the Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Goodstoney Nations – as well as the Tsuut’ina First Nation and the Blackfoot Confederacy comprised of the Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai. We acknowledge that this territory is home to the Shuswap Nations, Ktunaxa Nations, and Métis Nation of Alberta, Rockyview District 4. We acknowledge all Nations who live, work, and play here, help us steward this land, and honour and celebrate this place.