A day at the Zinemaldia: the plan for people without a badge

The 74th Zinemaldia closed on 26 September with the Golden Shell going to Tender Loving Care, by Mike Leigh. For nine days San Sebastián was one of the capitals of European cinema, and plenty of people who live here never set foot in a screening, convinced the festival belongs to those with a badge round their neck.

It doesn't. This is the plan that works, and almost everything below will serve just as well next year.

The basic mistake: thinking you need to plan months ahead

The most widespread belief about the Zinemaldia is that you have to organise yourself in spring. It is the other way round: tickets go on sale in mid-September, days before it starts, and the sale opens in stages, day by day.

That has two practical consequences. A bad one: the day the sale opens matters more than any other, and the galas and big-name titles sell out in minutes. And a good one almost nobody takes advantage of: you can decide on Thursday that you are going to the festival on Saturday. No year-long plan required.

The plan, from midday to night

Midday: something from Perlak

If you are only going to watch one film, make it a Perlak. It is the section that gathers the best of the year already seen at Cannes, Venice or Berlin: films that have passed another festival's filter before arriving here. By some distance, it is the lowest-risk bet.

And don't watch it at the Kursaal. The Príncipe, Trueba and Antiguo Berri cinemas are where locals actually watch the festival: same films, no red carpet, no gala and none of the gala's price.

Mid-afternoon: the part you don't pay for

There are two places where you stand for free and something happens. The first is the Kursaal red carpet in the late afternoon. The second is the door of the Hotel María Cristina, where anyone who came to be photographed is staying.

At the 74th edition that is where you would have found Werner Herzog, who collected his Donostia Award at the opening gala from Orlando Bloom, and Naomi Watts, the year's other Donostia. Neither required a ticket.

Night: the Velodrome

This is the part that justifies the article. The Anoeta Velodrome — the Antonio Elorza — turns into a cinema for the festival, with more than 2,500 seats, and it is the cheapest tier of the entire Zinemaldia. Not with filler, either: major premieres, series launches and the film-score concert with the Basque National Orchestra.

Two things worth knowing. First, in previous editions the Velodrome's own box office has sold tickets a couple of hours before each screening, which is the escape route when everything else is sold out. Second, it is outside the centre: budget for the journey, because you are not walking there from the old town in five minutes.

What it costs

Prices change from edition to edition, so always check the exact figures on the festival's official site. What doesn't change is the shape: the Velodrome is the cheap end, the Kursaal galas the expensive end, and ordinary screenings in the city-centre cinemas sit in between. There are season passes, and they pay off after a handful of screenings.

Films are shown in the original version with subtitles, which, if you have just arrived in the Basque Country, is probably better news than you expected.

How the 74th edition went

18 to 26 September 2026, with a jury chaired by Ira Sachs.

• Golden Shell: Tender Loving Care, by Mike Leigh, which also took the jury prize for best screenplay.
• Silver Shell for best leading performance: shared between Kate O'Flynn, for Leigh's film, and Asta Kamma August, for Markens grøde.
• Donostia Awards: Werner Herzog and Naomi Watts.

It was also José Luis Rebordinos's last edition as festival director, after fifteen years. Maialen Beloki takes over.

And in 2027

The 75th edition falls in the second half of September 2027 and will be the first with Beloki in charge. Exact dates are announced months ahead, and once they are known you will see them on our Zinemaldia hub, where we collect the programme as the sources publish it.

In the meantime, San Sebastián has cinema all year round and an agenda that doesn't stop in September.