Film Festival Days in Toronto, Without the Taxi Queue
TIFF brings eleven days of premieres, screenings and street life to downtown Toronto each September. If your film club, class or circle of friends is going as one, booking a minibus or Sprinter and driver gets you to the theatres without anyone hunting for parking on closed streets.
When it happens
The festival lasts roughly eleven days, starting in early September; in 2026 it ran from 10 to 20 September. The organizer hasn't announced dates for 2027 yet, so hold your plans loosely until it does, then lock in the vehicle.
Where the screenings are
The main venues are downtown: Roy Thomson Hall, the TIFF Lightbox, the Royal Alexandra and the Princess of Wales theatres, with others nearby. They sit close together, and the streets around them are exactly where festival closures bite.
When and where
- TIFF Lightbox, Roy Thomson Hall, Princess of Wales and Royal Alexandra theatres and other venues in downtown Toronto
- 2027 dates not yet announced; the festival runs 11 days in early to mid-September (September 10-20 in 2026)
Closed streets and where to be let off
In 2026, King Street West was shut to traffic from University Avenue to Spadina Avenue, starting at 5:00 on opening Thursday and reopening at 5:00 on the Monday after. Nearby side streets closed too, among them Blue Jays Way, Ed Mirvish Way, Peter, Widmer, Charlotte and Simcoe, and the TTC diverted or slowed its 508 Lake Shore and 504 King streetcars during closures and red-carpet events. The 2027 plan follows once the organizer and the city publish it.
So your driver sets down outside the closure and you walk the last few blocks. Toronto lets buses stop to load where "No Parking" or "No Standing" is posted, but only while people are getting on or off, never to wait. Two signed motor coach loading areas are worth knowing: York Street's east side at the Sheridan Centre, and Victoria Street's west side, outside the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre.
Between screenings, the vehicle parks elsewhere. The city has about 75 bus-only spaces in five zones, and its anti-idling by-law allows just one minute in any 60, so the pattern is drop, park and come back.
Your questions
Are the 2027 dates known?
Not yet. The organizer confirms them. Tell us your plans now, and the booking is firmed up once the dates are announced.
Can we be dropped right at the red carpet?
Red-carpet evenings bring extra closures and slower streetcars around the venues. The driver sets down where stopping is allowed and you walk the final stretch.
We're flying in. Which airport is closer?
Toronto Pearson is about 28 km by road from Union Station; in light traffic that's 25 to 30 minutes, far longer in rush hour. The island airport, Billy Bishop, is only about 3 km from downtown, and groups meet their vehicle on the mainland at Eireann Quay.