Locarno Film Festival: fewer visitors at Piazza Grande, more in cinemas

The 79th edition of the Locarno Film Festival closed on Sunday, with contrasting trends at the two main screening venues. Piazza Grande lost audience, while cinemas gained spectators compared with last year's edition.

According to figures released on Sunday by the organisers, the Piazza Grande programme recorded a 5% drop compared with 2025, for a total of 50,520 admissions. The decline is attributed partly to the high temperatures of recent weeks, partly to more careful management of the available space.

Screenings in cinemas, by contrast, moved in the opposite direction, growing by 4% compared with last year to a total of 91,405 admissions. The organisers point out that audiences followed not only the competition films but also the retrospective, special screenings and out-of-competition titles.

Over 150,000 spectators

Adding together all screenings and public events held over the festival's eleven days, attendance remained broadly in line with last year, up 0.4%. The Festival reports overall attendance of more than 150,000 spectators for the whole event. The figure is current as of Saturday 15 August and does not include the special screenings held on Sunday 16 August.

The next edition of the Locarno Film Festival, the 80th, will take place from 4 to 14 August 2027.

Locarno Pro, the platform for film industry professionals, also closed its 2026 edition with positive figures. For the first time, the number of accredited participants exceeded 2,000: 2,140 industry professionals took part in the Festival's Industry platform, a 10% increase compared with 2025.

The Rotonda by la Mobiliare also reported a positive outcome. Over more than two weeks, the venue offered a programme of music, art installations, food offerings and family entertainment, drawing more than 100,000 visitors.