Marrakech Film Festival 2026: Dates, Venues and Travel Guide

The Marrakech Film Festival runs from 20 to 28 November 2026 for its 23rd edition, according to the festival’s official website. Those nine days concentrate screenings, public talks and an industry programme into a single city, and they change three things in practical terms for a traveller: the availability of flights to Marrakech, the price of accommodation and how easy it is to get around the city centre. This page is not a film review. It is a practical travel guide, written from the point of view of the airport and the logistics, for anyone with a flight to book, a room to find and a transfer to arrange during that specific week.

Let us be straight about it right away, because this is exactly what readers are looking for at this time of year: as this article is written, in October 2026, the prices, the screening times, the exact ticketing arrangements for the general public and the 2026 accreditation conditions are not published. Neither is the official selection, the jury or the tributes: the official website states that the official selection is announced in early November 2026. So you will find no invented price here, no approximate time and no film title. What you will find are the confirmed dates, the venues listed in the official programme, the access mechanics as they are documented, and everything that belongs to the trip itself: flights, airport, accommodation, weather, getting around. For everything still open, the reflex is the same: go and check the festival’s official website.

In brief: the key facts about the Marrakech Film Festival 2026

• The dates are 20 to 28 November 2026, for the 23rd edition, according to the festival’s official website.
• The arrival airport is Marrakech-Menara, IATA code RAK.
• The official selection is announced in early November 2026: before that announcement, no detailed screening schedule exists, neither on the official website nor anywhere else.
• The prices, the screening times, the general-public ticketing arrangements and the 2026 accreditation conditions are not published as of the date of this article.
• The official website offers a “festival e-pass”, an online account and an accreditation procedure: those are the three documented ways in.
• Open-air screenings are held on Jemaa el-Fna square, and that is the most open part of the festival.
• Festival week falls in the second half of November, which according to the analyses published on this site is the best end-of-year compromise in Marrakech between weather and prices.
• On the flight side, the IATA 2026-2027 winter air season runs from 25 October 2026 to 28 March 2027, and Marrakech gains 5 new routes over that season.

Dates, edition and calendar of the Marrakech Film Festival

The Marrakech Film Festival 2026 takes place from 20 to 28 November 2026 and it is the 23rd edition, according to the festival’s official website. The festival was created in 2001, and since 2004 its co-organisation has been entrusted to the agency Le Public Système Cinéma. Two other dates shape the calendar of this edition and explain why part of the information is still missing: the film submission deadline was 31 July 2026, and the official selection is announced in early November 2026.

For a traveller, this timeline has a very concrete consequence. If you wait to know the films, the jury or the times before booking, you will be booking in November, that is to say a few weeks before departure, at the point when accommodation in central Marrakech is already in heavy demand. That is the classic trap of this week. The sensible trade-off is to treat the dates as the reliable information, because they are published, and to treat the detailed programme as a bonus that will arrive later.

Where the festival takes place: the venues listed in the official programme

The venues listed in the official programme of the Marrakech Film Festival are the Palais des Congrès, with the Salle des Ministres and the Salle des Ambassadeurs, the Cinéma le Colisée and the Yves Saint Laurent Museum, alongside the open-air screenings on Jemaa el-Fna square. From a visitor’s point of view, these venues are not interchangeable: the Palais des Congrès works as the festival’s centre of gravity with its two named screening rooms, the Cinéma le Colisée is a city cinema, the Yves Saint Laurent Museum hosts a more intimate format, and Jemaa el-Fna square is where the festival becomes an open-air event in the heart of the medina.

One important point to remember before building a schedule: the breakdown of screenings room by room is published only with the programme, so after the official selection is announced in early November 2026. The seating capacity of each room is not published either. In other words, knowing where the festival takes place is not enough to know which screening will be in which room and at what time: that information arrives all at once, late, and that is normal for a festival of this kind.

On the practical side of a stay, this spread has one virtue: the venues listed are all inside Marrakech, and not scattered around the region. Choosing a well-placed place to stay therefore solves much of the getting-around problem, and avoids depending on a taxi for every screening.

How to attend screenings at the Marrakech Film Festival

To attend screenings at the Marrakech Film Festival, three mechanisms are documented on the official website: a “festival e-pass”, an online account and an accreditation procedure. On top of that there are the open-air screenings on Jemaa el-Fna square, which are the simplest way in for a visitor passing through. On the other hand, and this needs saying plainly, the prices, the screening times, the exact ticketing arrangements for the general public and the 2026 accreditation conditions are not published as of the date of this article. Any page announcing a precise price or a screening time for this edition today is making it up.

So here is what it is reasonable to do, in order. First, create your online account on the official website, since that is the announced entry point and doing it in advance costs a few minutes instead of having to register in a rush on opening day. Then watch for the programme to be published, expected with the official selection from early November 2026, because that is when the concrete arrangements become readable. Finally, keep two very different audiences apart: the visitor who wants to see films, and the professional who comes to work and falls under accreditation.

A useful detail about the atmosphere of the screenings: some are held in the presence of the film crew, according to the official website. That is an organisational detail with practical consequences, since those screenings are generally the most in demand. If your aim is mainly to experience the festival atmosphere without depending on a seat in a particular room, the open-air screenings on Jemaa el-Fna square fill that role without the constraints of a pass.

• What is known: the existence of a “festival e-pass”, an online account and an accreditation procedure, as well as the open-air screenings held on Jemaa el-Fna square.
• What is not published: the prices, the screening times, the exact general-public ticketing arrangements and the 2026 accreditation conditions.
• What is not published either: the seating capacity of each room, the 2026 official selection, the jury and the tributes.
• The right reflex: create your online account early, then check the official website from early November 2026.

The sections of the Marrakech Film Festival programme

The programme of the Marrakech Film Festival is organised into recurring sections that come back from one edition to the next: the Official Competition, the Gala Screenings, the Special Screenings, the Tributes, the “11th Continent” section devoted to bold and innovative films, the Panorama of Moroccan Cinema, the Young Audience strand and the open-air screenings. Knowing these sections before the selection is published is useful, because it is the grid the films will be sorted into and therefore the way you will read the programme the day it comes out.

Two sections deserve particular attention from a traveller who is not coming primarily for the cinema. The Panorama of Moroccan Cinema gives a snapshot of the year’s local production, and it is often the most eye-opening section for a foreign visitor, because you see films you will not easily come across elsewhere. The Young Audience strand, for its part, changes things for anyone travelling as a family, since there is a strand designed for children rather than a uniformly adult line-up.

The Tributes follow a stable logic: tributes are paid to a foreign film industry as well as to individual careers, according to the official website. The names involved for 2026 are not announced as of the date of this article. The same goes for the Official Competition: the 2026 selection is not published, and any list of titles found online today corresponds to the previous edition, not to the one running from 20 to 28 November 2026. That is a common trap when you prepare a trip from badly dated pages.

The Atlas Workshops: the festival’s industry strand

The Atlas Workshops are the festival’s industry and talent development programme, created in 2018. They run for four days and bring together around 250 international professionals as well as regional talent, according to the festival’s official website. Their stated mission is to support a new generation of Moroccan, Arab and African filmmakers. So this is a professional strand, separate from the screenings open to the public, and that is precisely what makes it important to understand when planning a trip.

Why does this concern you even if you are not in the business? Because an influx of international professionals over four days is added on top of the usual tourist numbers of the second half of November. In practice, that puts pressure on accommodation near the festival venues and on taxis in the evening. Conversely, if you are a professional in the sector, it is accreditation and not general-public ticketing that concerns you, and the 2026 accreditation conditions are not published as of the date of this article: the only source to follow is the festival’s official website.

Flights to Marrakech during the Marrakech Film Festival

The week of 20 to 28 November 2026 falls in the middle of the winter air season, and that is good news for anyone looking for a flight. The IATA 2026-2027 winter air season runs from 25 October 2026 to 28 March 2027: the festival therefore takes place about a month after the switch to winter schedules, at a point when the season’s new routes are already being operated. According to the Moroccan National Tourist Office as reported by the press, Marrakech gains 5 new routes over this 2026-2027 winter season, including Marrakech-Wrocław.

Low-cost capacity is also rising sharply this winter. According to Ryanair’s official press release of 6 August 2026, the airline announces 5.3 million low-fare seats to Morocco over the winter season, spread across 156 routes including 17 new ones, that is 580,000 extra seats and a rise of 12% on the previous winter, with 16 aircraft based in Morocco and 13 Moroccan airports served. One honest caveat applies here: the press release does not publish the full list of the 17 new routes, so it is not possible to say here which of them involve Marrakech.

The booking advice does not change for all that, and it collides with the festival’s timeline. Based on the benchmarks already published on this site, you generally book 6 to 10 weeks ahead for a short-haul flight from Europe. For a departure at the end of November, that means booking in September or October, that is to say before the official selection is announced. If you absolutely insist on knowing the programme before you buy, accept that you will book late and pay more; it is a choice, not a fate. Our guide on when to book a flight to Morocco sets out the booking windows season by season.

One last piece of context, often forgotten: festival week overlaps with the second half of November, a period when crowds are moderate and flight prices mid-range according to the figures published on this site, and which is precisely one of the better compromises at the end of the year. The festival adds local demand over nine days, but it does not turn November into high season on a national scale. Think about the time difference too: Morocco has been on GMT, that is UTC+0, permanently since 20 September 2026, and as Europe moved back to winter time on 25 October 2026, the difference with France is 1 hour throughout November.

The detail of the low-fare winter schedule can be read in the Ryanair press release of 6 August 2026, and information on Moroccan airports is published by ONDA, the National Airports Office.

At Marrakech-Menara airport during festival week

The airport serving the Marrakech Film Festival is Marrakech-Menara, whose IATA code is RAK. It is the single obvious entry point for the week of 20 to 28 November 2026: all the venues listed in the official programme are in the city of Marrakech, so there is no trade-off to make between several airports as is sometimes the case elsewhere in Morocco. Our detailed page on Marrakesh Menara Airport (RAK) covers the terminals, the services and the transfer options into the centre.

What should you actually expect on arrival during that week? An airport running on its winter season schedule, with the season’s new routes already in place, and a simultaneous arrival of leisure travellers and professionals coming for the festival’s industry strand. Two risk-free pieces of advice: allow a comfortable margin on the way back rather than slotting a flight in just after a final screening, and arrange your transfer before you land rather than negotiating it at the arrivals hall door with a suitcase in hand.

One purely practical calendar point to know: two national public holidays fall in November in Morocco, on 6 and 18 November. The first does not affect festival week, and the second comes immediately before the opening. The effect to remember is simple: on those days, government offices and banks are closed and domestic transport is busier. If you arrive on the 18th, or were counting on a banking or administrative errand just before the festival, move it.

Where to stay and how to get around during festival week

Pressure on accommodation is the real issue of this week, more than flights. The festival concentrates extra demand over nine days in a city that already receives leisure travellers at this time of year, and the Atlas Workshops add around 250 international professionals over four days according to the official website. The result is predictable: the well-located addresses go first, and those are the ones that interest you most, since the venues listed in the official programme are spread between the medina, the new town and the area around the Palais des Congrès.

When should you book your accommodation? As early as possible, and without waiting for the programme to be published in early November 2026, because waiting for the programme means looking for a room a few weeks before the event. The effective strategy is to book a cancellable option early, then adjust the neighbourhood once the programme is known.

Which neighbourhoods should you aim for? The logic is dictated by the venues. Staying in the medina puts you close to Jemaa el-Fna square, and therefore to the open-air screenings, and gives you the most striking atmosphere; in exchange, you walk through narrow lanes and a taxi will not drop you at the door. Staying in the new town puts you close to the Cinéma le Colisée and makes car journeys simpler, at the cost of a more ordinary atmosphere. Staying near the Palais des Congrès is the most rational choice if your absolute priority is to see as many screenings as possible, since it is the festival’s main venue. To size up your spending on the ground, our Marrakech travel budget guide gives orders of magnitude category by category.

For moving between the rooms, three rules are enough. First rule: group your screenings by venue rather than by impulse, because evening journeys are the main source of delay. Second rule: anticipate the end of screenings, the moment when everyone is looking for a taxi at the same time in the same places. Third rule: keep some dirham cash on you, because a short ride paid in cash remains the fastest option. And if your programme includes the open-air screenings on Jemaa el-Fna square, be aware that it is the easiest point to reach on foot from the medina, and the most painful to reach by car.

The weather in Marrakech in late November

In Marrakech in November, it is around 23 °C by day and 11 °C at night, with around 30 mm of rain over the month, according to the figures published on this site, which describe a mild month with magnificent light. That is very comfortable weather for a festival mixing indoor rooms and open-air screenings: pleasant during the day for walking between two screenings, distinctly cooler in the evening, which has a direct and concrete consequence for the Jemaa el-Fna square screenings, where you stay still for one to two hours after sunset.

One thing not to underestimate: November is one of the two wettest months of the year in Marrakech, along with March, while remaining lightly watered in absolute terms. The 30 mm a month recorded on this site do not make November a wet month in the European sense of the word, but they do make a shower plausible over nine days of festival. The practical translation fits in one sentence: bring a warm layer for the evenings and a light windbreaker, and assume that an open-air screening can be affected by the weather. For a month-by-month overview, see our guide on the best time to visit Marrakech.

If you are coming for the festival, also think about

Nine days of festival are not filled with screenings alone, especially if the programme only comes out in early November 2026 and you find out your free slots late. Two or three add-ons fit naturally with this week, and they have the advantage of remaining doable at the end of November, while the weather stays mild.

A desert escape from Marrakech

The desert is the most requested add-on from Marrakech, and the end of November suits it well: the days are mild and the nights frankly cool, which changes everything for a desert camp. The trade-off is between a nearer destination and a more distant one, with very different driving times, and it is better settled before you slot festival screenings into your schedule. Our guide on the desert from Marrakech, between Merzouga and Zagora compares the two options and the camp formats.

Extending the trip into December

The festival ends on 28 November 2026, two days short of December, and extending by a few nights changes the nature of the trip. December has its own logic in Morocco in terms of weather, prices and visitor numbers, and it is not simply the continuation of November. If you are hesitating about staying longer, our guide on Morocco in December sets out what changes for climate, flights and crowds.

Keeping one day with nothing planned

A festival whose times are published only late inevitably produces scheduling clashes, sold-out screenings and last-minute impulses. Keeping one day entirely free in the middle of the nine gives you the room to catch up on a screening you missed, accept an unplanned outing, or wander around Marrakech without watching the clock.

Mistakes to avoid when coming for the Marrakech Film Festival

• Waiting for the programme before booking. The official selection is announced in early November 2026, while the recommended booking window for a short-haul flight from Europe is 6 to 10 weeks before departure. Waiting means booking at the worst moment.
• Relying on a list of films found online. The 2026 selection is not published as of the date of this article: what is circulating corresponds to the previous edition, not to the dates of 20 to 28 November 2026.
• Believing a price or a time announced by a third-party site. The prices, the screening times, the general-public ticketing and the 2026 accreditation conditions are not published. Only one source counts: the official website.
• Confusing professional accreditation with public access. The Atlas Workshops are an industry programme aimed at professionals; it is not a way in to see films as a visitor.
• Underestimating how cool the evenings are. At around 11 °C at night according to the figures published on this site, an open-air screening on Jemaa el-Fna square without a warm layer ends badly.
• Slotting a return flight in just after a screening, or a banking errand on 6 or 18 November. The end of screenings saturates the taxis, so keep a margin for the trip to Marrakech-Menara airport. And those two national public holidays close banks and government offices, with busier domestic transport.

FAQ — Marrakech Film Festival

What are the dates of the Marrakech Film Festival 2026?

The Marrakech Film Festival 2026 takes place from 20 to 28 November 2026, for its 23rd edition, according to the festival’s official website. Those dates are the only confirmed calendar information as of the date of this article. The official selection, for its part, is announced in early November 2026, so after the period when people usually book their flight.

Where are the festival screenings held?

The venues listed in the official programme are the Palais des Congrès, with the Salle des Ministres and the Salle des Ambassadeurs, the Cinéma le Colisée and the Yves Saint Laurent Museum, alongside the open-air screenings on Jemaa el-Fna square. The room-by-room detail of the screenings is published only with the programme. The seating capacity of each room is not published.

How do you get tickets or a pass for the festival?

The festival’s official website offers a “festival e-pass”, an online account and an accreditation procedure. On the other hand, the exact ticketing arrangements for the general public, the prices and the screening times are not published as of the date of this article. The useful step is to create your online account in advance, then check the official website from early November 2026.

Can you see films without professional accreditation?

Yes, the festival includes open-air screenings on Jemaa el-Fna square, which are the most open part of the programme. Accreditation follows a different logic: it concerns professionals, in particular around the Atlas Workshops, an industry programme bringing together around 250 international professionals over four days. The 2026 accreditation conditions are not published as of the date of this article.

Which airport for the Marrakech Film Festival?

The airport is Marrakech-Menara, IATA code RAK, since all the venues listed in the official programme are in the city of Marrakech. Festival week sits in the middle of the IATA winter air season, which runs from 25 October 2026 to 28 March 2027. Marrakech gains 5 new routes over this season, including Marrakech-Wrocław, according to the Moroccan National Tourist Office as reported by the press.

When should you book your flight and accommodation for the festival?

Based on the benchmarks published on this site, you generally book 6 to 10 weeks ahead for a short-haul flight from Europe, which puts the right window in September or October for a departure at the end of November. For accommodation, you need to book even earlier, because demand concentrates on the well-located addresses. The safest strategy is to book a cancellable option early, then adjust when the programme comes out.

What is the weather like in Marrakech during the festival?

In Marrakech in November, expect around 23 °C by day and 11 °C at night, with around 30 mm of rain over the month, according to the figures published on this site. November is one of the two wettest months of the year in Marrakech, along with March, while remaining lightly watered in absolute terms. Bring a warm layer for the evenings, in particular for the open-air screenings.

In summary

The Marrakech Film Festival 2026 runs from 20 to 28 November 2026, for its 23rd edition, in venues all located in Marrakech: the Palais des Congrès and its two rooms, the Cinéma le Colisée, the Yves Saint Laurent Museum and Jemaa el-Fna square for the open-air screenings. On the travel side, the timing is favourable: the winter air season has been under way since 25 October 2026, 5 new routes to Marrakech over that season, low-fare capacity to Morocco up 12% according to the Ryanair press release of 6 August 2026, mild weather around 23 °C by day and a 1 hour difference with France. On the festival side, the essentials are still to be published: prices, times, general-public ticketing, 2026 accreditation conditions and the official selection, expected in early November 2026. What to do follows from that gap: book the flight and the room on the basis of the dates, which are firm, and treat the programme as information that will arrive late.

Sources

• Marrakech International Film Festival — official website: dates, edition, venues, programme sections, Atlas Workshops, e-pass and accreditation.
• Ryanair Corporate — Morocco winter schedule, press release of 6 August 2026: seats, routes, based aircraft and airports served.
• ONDA — National Airports Office: official information on Moroccan airports, including Marrakech-Menara.
• Moroccan National Tourist Office: official tourist information on Marrakech and Morocco.
• Photographs: “Oriental hanging lanterns. Souk Haddadine, Marrakech Medina” by Petar Milošević (CC BY-SA 4.0) and “Place Jemaa el-Fna, Marrakech, Night” by Grand Parc – Bordeaux (CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons.

Information checked in October 2026 with the festival’s official website. The programme, the venues and the access arrangements may change: check marrakech-festival.com before you travel.