Revealed: Harrogate Film Festival looks set to return in 2026 to attract thousands of movie fans
The Harrogate Advertiser understands that the hugely popular Harrogate Film Festival is set to return for the first time since the Covid pandemic.
The independently run festival was first launched in 2017 as a passion project and soon attracted thousands of film fans to screenings, talks and workshops at Harrogate’s Everyman cinema – and a host of other locations across the town.
An event which always proudly punched well above its weight, Harrogate Film Festival is famed for its worldwide short film competition, collaborations with Harrogate Film Society and appearances by highly-respected figures from the wider film world.
Its last physical incarnation in 2020, before lockdown arrived, saw in-person appearances from iconic British movie director Ken Loach, legendary actor Brian Blessed and award-winning rock music filmmaker Tony Palmer.
Harrogate Film Festival’s founder Adam Chandler, who owns his own business Reel Film Media Ltd, has always worked with other Harrogate-based business and arts groups to make the event a force to be reckoned with in the broader film world beyond the town.
In the past, the film festival has been supported by Raworths, Everyman Cinema, Harrogate Film Society, Cause UK, Leeds Beckett University’s Northern Film School, the Royal Pump Room Museum, Charm events and Harrogate restaurants and bars.
The Harrogate Advertiser understands the event will return in 2026 with the intention of repeating the same high standards as before.
The event’s founder Adam Chandler, MD of Reel Film Media Ltd, has previously been nominated in the NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards.