Fantastic Fest 2026 — Austin, TX

“Eight days at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin — horror,…”

Fantastic Fest programs horror, science fiction, and genre film that wouldn't survive a studio committee. Eight days at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, September 17–24, where winning Best Film means your movie is genuinely frightening.

Eight days of screenings at the Alamo Drafthouse, which means dinner and drinks at your seat during the film. The selection spans international premieres and US debuts, with a curatorial ethos that prizes the strange over the safe. The programming deliberately refuses to be rigid about genre: the umbrella covers anything that warrants the label weird. Secret screenings are a Fantastic Fest signature — you sit down not knowing what you are about to see, and the audience often does not learn the title until moments before it begins. Beyond films: trivia nights, drag shows, karaoke, live bands, and stunts that have included burying audience members alive and hosting sideshow performances. The festival has been called Austin's strangest week of the year — which is saying something.

If you have opinions about horror, science fiction, or cult cinema — especially if those opinions run ahead of the mainstream — Fantastic Fest is your event. Films that premiere here regularly go on to win awards and achieve strong box office returns months later. The badge experience includes access to parties at the Highball, the venue adjacent to the Drafthouse. This is a festival for people who want to see what is coming before it arrives.

Fan Badges cover the full eight-day festival. Second-Half Badges run September 21–24 and include parties and Highball access. Industry Badges provide daily press and industry screenings. Check fantasticfest.com for current availability — badge categories sell out early. Secret screening seats fill fastest; arrive early if you want one. The Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar runs multiple simultaneous screenings across several auditoriums, giving you real choices when scheduling conflicts arise.

Fantastic Fest in 2026 is the 21st edition of an event that started as a scrappy Austin experiment and became the definitive American destination for genre cinema. In a moment when horror and science fiction dominate global streaming conversations, Fantastic Fest remains the place where the most adventurous versions of those genres get their first real audience. Sitting in that Drafthouse auditorium surrounded by people who drove in from five states for this week is the feeling that makes the badge worth every dollar.