Upcoming Dates

Some important upcoming dates for the 2006 festival:

• Tuesday, August 22: The complete list of films for this year's festival will be available at the official site (http://www.e.bell.ca/filmfest/) after 1:00 PM. Note that this list may not contain descriptions of the films; often descriptions are not published until after the official programme guide is released (this year that will occur on August 29).
  
• Saturday, August 26: Gala single tickets go on sale online (http://www.e.bell.ca/filmfest), by phone ((416) 968-FILM), and at the year-round Box Office (Manulife Centre, 55 Bloor Street West, main floor, north entrance, 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM). Because of the popularity of the galas, expect that all three options will be extremely busy that day.
  
• Tuesday, August 29: For those who pre-purchased a programme book, coupons, or passes, they can be picked up from the Festival Box Office (College Park, 444 Yonge Street, Market Level, south entrance). Note this location is different from last year. Order forms for those with coupons may be dropped off starting from this date; forms must be dropped off at the Festival Box Office.
  
• Friday, September 1: All coupon order forms must be submitted by 1:00 PM at the Festival Box Office in order to be eligible for the advanced draw. After the deadline, the festival will randomly draw a box number and starting processing orders.
  
• Monday, September 4: All advanced ticket orders can be picked up from the Festival Box Office.
  
• Wednesday, September 6: Advanced tickets go on sale for the general public at the year-round Box Office. If you didn't purchase a pass or coupons, this is the first day you will be able to buy tickets for the festival (excepting Gala tickets which went on sale August 26, but which are most likely sold out by this date).
  
• Thursday, September 7: The festival begins.
  

The important thing to note with these dates is that certain events occur only at certain box offices. There are two box offices for the festival; the year-round Box Office at the Manulife Centre on Bloor Street, and the Festival Box Office at College Park on Yonge at College. Make sure you know which box office you need to go to before heading out, especially if you are lining up to purchase tickets.

When purchasing tickets, expect everything to be busy, especially when things initially go on-sale. The festival website usually crashes or times out under the heavy load. The phone lines may also prove to be busy, so you may have to dial repeatedly until you get through. Also expect long line-ups at the box offices. Last year there were complaints by people in line at the box office that a lot of tickets were snapped up by people purchasing on the internet, but given the usual problems on the website, that isn't always a sure bet. Visit the festival website to keep up-to-date on any changes or additional options for purchasing.

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