Locarno Film Festival -- Piazza Grande

Overview

Piazza Grande is the iconic open-air heart of the Locarno Film Festival. Each evening during the festival's eleven-day run in August, up to 8,000 spectators gather in the central Piazza Grande square under the Alpine night sky to watch films on one of the world's largest outdoor screens -- a massive 26-by-14-meter installation that transforms the historic square into a temporary cinema.

Piazza Grande programs films that combine quality with broad audience appeal. Unlike the more adventurous International Competition, Piazza Grande selects premieres that can engage a large, mixed audience -- genre films, crowd-pleasing international productions, classic cinema tributes, and films with mainstream appeal that nonetheless meet the quality standards of a major festival.

Screening in Piazza Grande is one of the most distinctive experiences in world cinema. The combination of a 8,000-person audience, the Alpine setting, and the summer night atmosphere creates an energy that indoor cinema cannot replicate. Filmmakers invited to premiere in Piazza Grande receive one of the most memorable and emotionally powerful screenings available anywhere.

Key Sections

• Piazza Grande Premieres -- international and world premieres of films selected for the open-air screen
• Special Events -- tributes, reunions, and celebration screenings
• Pardo alla Carriera -- the career tribute award presented in Piazza Grande

What Filmmakers Should Know

Piazza Grande selection is not through open submission. Films are selected by the Locarno programming team through curatorial relationships with distributors and sales agents. The section seeks films with audience appeal that can hold the attention of a massive outdoor audience in an environment with inherent distractions.

A Piazza Grande premiere provides filmmakers with a uniquely spectacular platform and generates substantial media attention. The emotional impact of premiering to 8,000 people under the stars is consistently described by filmmakers as a highlight of their careers.

Major Awards

• Pardo d'Oro Cineasti del Presente -- presented in Piazza Grande alongside other Locarno awards
• Pardo alla Carriera -- the career achievement award presented in the open-air setting

Festival History

Piazza Grande screenings have been central to the Locarno festival experience since its earliest years. The current large-scale outdoor screen format was established in the 1970s and has evolved with projection technology to its current 26-by-14-meter specification.

See Also

For the full Locarno Film Festival, see Locarno Film Festival. For festival strategy, see Film Festival Strategy.