74th San Sebastian Film Festival (Zinemaldia) 2026: guide, venues and 24/7 luggage storage 5 minutes from the Kursaal

Nine days, twenty-five screens, nearly 200 films and tens of thousands of attendees from all over the world. From Friday September 18 to Saturday September 26, 2026 Donostia holds the 74th San Sebastian International Film Festival — the Zinemaldia — a FIAPF category A festival, the only one of that rank in Spain and one of the reference dates on the world cinema calendar. Nine days of premieres, red-carpet arrivals, press conferences and screenings that start at 9 in the morning and don't finish until past midnight.

If you're coming to Donostia for the festival — with press credentials, a spectator pass or just to catch the single tickets released to the general public — you have long days ahead of you between the Kursaal, the Teatro Victoria Eugenia, Tabakalera and the venues in the Old Town. And at least five hours between the morning train and hotel check-in.

What Zinemaldia is

The San Sebastian International Film Festival — Donostia Zinemaldia — has run without interruption since 1953. It's Spain's oldest film festival and the only category A festival (non-specialised competition with international jury) recognised by FIAPF alongside Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Karlovy Vary, Locarno, Montreal, Moscow, Cairo, Shanghai, Tokyo, Tallinn and Mar del Plata.

Its main prize is the Golden Shell for the best film in the Official Selection. Two honorary awards define its identity: the Donostia Award — a career recognition given each year to several international figures — and the Zinemira Award, dedicated to Basque cinema.

74th SSIFF — the essentials of this edition

The 74th edition runs from September 18 to 26, 2026. Some headlines:

• 2026 Donostia Awards: Naomi Watts and Werner Herzog receive the honorary lifetime-career award.
• Zinemira Award: José Ramón Soroiz, honoured at the Great Basque Cinema Gala (EITB) on Tuesday September 22.
• Official Selection: the main competition for the Golden Shell, with international premieres shown here for the first time.
• New Directors: first and second features from directors around the world, with the Kutxabank Award.
• Horizontes Latinos: Ibero-American cinema premieres, with the Horizontes Make & Mark Award.
• Zabaltegi-Tabakalera: the most free-form and experimental section, with its own prize.
• Perlak: the year's best from other international festivals, with the Ciudad de Donostia Audience Award.
• Culinary Zinema: cinema and gastronomy, with themed pairing dinners.
• Nest: short films from international film schools.
• Zinemira, Made in Spain, Origen: Euskadi: Basque and Spanish cinema.
• 2026 Retrospective: dedicated to José Giovanni.
• Klasikoak and Children's Cinema: sessions for restored classics and family programming.

Beyond the screening programme there are Conversations, broadcast press conferences, Kursaal presentations and the RTVE / EITB Galas that open and close each day.

Photo: Gari Garaialde. Sunday September 13, 2026, 08:55.

Where the festival happens: the 25 Zinemaldia venues

The festival takes over the whole city. These are the official venues of the 74th edition (source: sansebastianfestival.com):

Main venues

• Kursaal, screens 1 and 2 — opening and closing galas, Official Selection, presentations. Paseo de la Zurriola.
• Teatro Victoria Eugenia — Official Selection, award ceremonies, institutional sessions. Paseo República Argentina.
• Teatro Principal — Perlak, Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, Made in Spain. Calle Mayor.

Multiplexes and alternative screens

• Príncipe — screens 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10. Central cinema used for all sections. Calle San Juan.
• Antiguo Berri — screens 2, 6, 7 and 8. In the Antiguo neighbourhood, west of the city.
• Trueba — screens 1 and 2. Opposite the City Hall, classic Donostia atmosphere.
• Tabakalera — Cine (main hall), Sala 1 (previously Sala Z), Laboratorio and Prisma. Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, experimental cycles, presentations. Plaza de las Cigarreras.

Special venues

• Anoeta Velódromo — large-capacity sessions and popular screenings (Ikastetxeak Belodromoan, mass Children's Cinema).
• Aquarium and Museo San Telmo — one-off screenings and parallel activities.

Ten physical spaces, twenty-five screens — hence the festival essentially takes over the whole city. Most are within a 15-minute walk of the centre. Only Antiguo Berri and Velódromo are somewhat further out and need a bus or taxi.

Tickets and accreditations

• General public sales: online at sansebastianfestival.janto.es and at the festival's physical box offices during screening days.
• Accredited tickets: dedicated portal for press, industry and cultural bodies.
• Discounts: subscribers to the newsletter receive a daily selection of tickets with up to 50% off — worth signing up before you come.
• Popular sessions: the Velódromo usually offers cheaper tickets for the big festive screenings.

Basic tip: Official Selection sessions at the Kursaal, the Donostia Award Screening and the EITB / RTVE galas fly — they sell out within hours of tickets going live. If you want a specific film, buy the moment it opens. For the rest, there's usually room and availability almost up to the same day.

Why you need to drop the luggage if you come for Zinemaldia

The festival is a full-day plan. First sessions start at 09:00 at Príncipe and Antiguo Berri. Last ones finish past midnight. The typical festival-goer schedule is: morning screening, quick meal between films, two or three afternoon sessions in different rooms, late dinner in the Old Town and a night session at the Kursaal or Tabakalera.

If you arrive in Donostia on the morning train on the 18th (or any other festival day), you have hours ahead of you before hotel check-in (standard 15:00). Five or six hours dragging a suitcase between the Kursaal, Príncipe, Old Town and Tabakalera doesn't work — even less if you've bought a ticket for a 12:00 or 13:00 screening on day one.

The practical option is to drop the bag at a city-centre locker on arrival, head straight to the venue, and pick it up when it suits — before the hotel if you're staying, or before the return Renfe / Alsa if you're coming just for the weekend. Five euros for the bag, hands free, full day for the festival.

Where we are: 5 minutes from Victoria Eugenia and the Kursaal

DSS Lockers is at Calle San Martín Kalea 46, in the heart of Donostia's Centro district. Walking distance from all the main festival venues:

• Teatro Victoria Eugenia — 5 minutes on foot
• Kursaal (screens 1 and 2) — 8 minutes across the bridge
• Teatro Principal — 10 minutes on foot
• Cine Príncipe (screens 2-10) — 6 minutes on foot
• Trueba — 8 minutes on foot
• Tabakalera — 12 minutes on foot
• North Station (Renfe) — 10 minutes on foot
• Donostia bus station — 9 minutes on foot
• Old Town (pintxos between sessions) — 12 minutes on foot
• La Concha beach — 5 minutes on foot

Ideal location for the typical festival-goer's rhythm: arrive by train or bus, drop luggage, walk up to Victoria Eugenia or cross the river to the Kursaal, and between sessions come down to the Old Town or the promenade of La Concha. The whole festival circuit is on foot from here.

Photo: Gari Garaialde. Sunday September 13, 2026, 09:32.

How DSS Lockers works: 100% unstaffed, 24/7

Nine festival days — with sessions ending past midnight — need a locker that works at any hour. DSS Lockers is open 24 hours a day, every day, with no staff at the shop. Everything on the phone:

1. Book from the phone — the night before or on the train up. Pick size (S, M or XL) and hours.
2. PIN code to enter the shop. Each booking generates a unique numeric code. Keypad at the door, code, in.
3. QR for your locker. Scan at the central kiosk. Your locker opens automatically. Drop the bag, close.
4. Come back whenever within your booked hours — same PIN, same QR, same 24 h access. Perfect if your session ends at 00:30 at the Kursaal and you need to pick up before the first morning train.

Three locker sizes:

• S — bag, camera, rain jacket, festival catalogue
• M — day pack, laptop, cabin suitcase (35-50 L)
• XL — large trolley up to 80 L, or two cabin cases together

And the lockers are climate-controlled — if the Cantabrian sea has delivered a downpour on the way out of the Teatro Principal, the wet raincoat isn't sealed inside a closed cabinet.

Practical tips for the festival

• Book the locker in advance. During festival days storage and hotel occupancy spikes. Two-three days ahead secures a spot.
• Buy tickets for the big sessions the moment sales open. Kursaal Sala 1, Donostia Award Screening, EITB Gala and Great Basque Cinema Gala sell out in hours.
• Sign up for the festival newsletter. Subscribers receive daily tickets with major discounts for that day's sessions.
• Install the official festival app. Full programme, personalised My Festival, alerts on last-minute changes.
• Check the Festival Daily. Published each of the nine festival days, with reviews, interviews and a look ahead.
• Dine late or between sessions. Donostia dines from 21:00. If you have a 22:00 session, go for bar-counter pintxos in the Old Town between 19:30 and 21:00.
• Layered clothing. September in Donostia is sunny but cool by the sea, with possible rain. Light jacket, folding umbrella in the bag.
• Phone battery. Long days, festival app open all the time, maps to move between venues. Charger or power bank in the daypack.
• If you can't find lodging in Donostia, consider Hondarribia, Zarautz, Getaria or Zumaia — all 20-40 min by Renfe or Euskotren, with direct trains to North Station, 10 min on foot from our shop. Drop the suitcase on arrival, live the festival, pick up before heading back.

How to get there and get around during the festival

By train — Renfe arrives at the North Station. The AVE from Madrid drops there; there's also a connection with Barcelona via Zaragoza. Euskotren connects with Bilbao, Hendaye and the whole Basque coast.

By bus — Donostia bus station serves ALSA, PESA, Lurraldebus and La Roncalesa lines. Bilbao–Donostia leaves roughly every hour. From Bayonne / Hendaye (France) there are frequent connections.

By plane — San Sebastian Airport in Hondarribia (EAS), 20 minutes by E20 or E21 bus to the centre. Alternative: Bilbao Airport (BIO), 75 minutes on the direct PESA bus.

Within the city — The whole festival is on foot or by Dbus (urban bus). Velódromo and Antiguo Berri need Dbus or taxi; all other venues are walking distance from the centre. Watch out for parking on gala days: SABA Boulevard or Okendo in the centre are the safe options.

Ongi etorri Zinemaldira

Zinemaldia isn't just cinema: it's Donostia dressed for festival for nine days, with lights at the Kursaal, terraces packed till the small hours, and a seven-decade tradition still setting the standard. Come see it, enjoy it light, and stay for the atmosphere that fills the city after each screening.

Drop the bag with us, walk to the venue, and enjoy one of the finest film festivals on the world calendar.

Book my locker at DSS Lockers →

Ongi etorri Donostiara. Enjoy the 74th edition.

Sources

• Official programme and calendar of the 74th San Sebastian Film Festival: sansebastianfestival.com (accessed September 18, 2026).
• Festival tourism entry: Turismo Euskadi, turismo.euskadi.eus.
• Photos 1 and 2: Gari Garaialde, September 13, 2026.