The Telluride box canyon at dusk, framed as a strip of film
Skincheese Travel · TFF 53

Telluride
Film Festival

Six of us, two arrival waves, one festival that won't tell you what's playing until the night before you get there.

Sept 4–7, 2026
The Saddle Pad at The Livery · 110 S Pine St · Pacific & Pine
Program Decoder · Standing by

The lineup drops Thursday night

TFF keeps its program secret until the eve of opening day. When it lands, this site turns it into three ranked plans and a picks tracker — see the Schedule tab.

—Days
—Hours
—Min
—Sec
Read first
Getting there
Eat, drink & shop
Telluride beyond the films
Who's arriving when
The one thing that can go wrong The Enterprise counter at MTJ closes at 9:00 pm and pick-up service is unavailable — if Monica & Noah land at 9:15 they find a dark counter. Check the arrival time against the counter's hours and call the location directly if it's after 8:30 pm. There is no Uber in Telluride. The good news: staying in Montrose Thursday night means a late landing costs a hotel check-in, not a mountain drive in the dark.
Still open
Waiting on Colin How many parking spots come with the house · the usual bring-food list · Monica & Noah's MTJ arrival time · departure day — Monday or Tuesday · rough film appetite per person · photo album and playlist links.
Book now — the only reservation that matters New Sheridan Chop House, 233 W Colorado Ave. Six people including two in their eighties, during a sold-out festival, is a hard walk-in anywhere good. Lock one night; the rest of the weekend runs fine on walk-ins and counter service.
skincheese.com/tff · v3 · 21 guides, 79 pages
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Nothing here deploys without Colin's sign-off.
Pins only — no route lines. Mountain roads never go straight.
Program Decoder

Time blocks,
not titles — yet

Until Thursday night nobody knows what's playing. So this is the shape of each day: the fixed anchors, the Q timing, and where the gaps are. When the lineup lands, real films drop into these slots.

The rule that governs every day Qs go out one hour before showtime, at the venue, one per person physically present — and a Q is a place in line, not a seat. Budget ~3½ hours per film all in. Three a day is sustainable; four is a fourteen-hour day. See The Decoder.
When the lineup lands three plans, rebuilt each night
Plan A · The default
Max Films

Four a day, sometimes five. Big houses only, back-to-back where the walk allows, meals eaten standing in the Q. First screenings are at 9 am and the last let out near midnight. This is what most of the group is here for.

Plan B
Three + a meal

Three films, one real sit-down dinner, one non-film thing. What Plan A turns into by Sunday when everyone's legs give out.

Plan C
Chill

Two films, both in walkable big houses, no 9 am starts, plus the free 8:30 outdoor screening. There if anyone wants it on any given day.

Plus a picks tracker Each of the six taps the films they want. The site shows where the group converges and where it splits — and flags any two picks that are physically impossible back-to-back given the one-hour Q rule and the walk between venues. Palm to Town Park is 20–25 minutes; that's the hop that breaks schedules.
The shape of each day

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