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Film Festivals in Karlovy Vary
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
A western Bohemian spa town of colonnades, hot springs and grand 19th-century hotels along the Tepla river, one of the Great Spa Towns of Europe. Each July it hosts central Europe's leading film festival, and it is also the home of Becherovka and Moser glass.
Run by Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary, with published dates and a real program.
Dates & details verified against: Official event site ↗
Why here
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is central Europe's leading film event and one of the oldest festivals in the world, running since 1946. Each July the Bohemian spa town of Karlovy Vary fills with premieres, competition titles and industry crowds, centred on the modernist Hotel Thermal and the colonnades along the Tepla river. As a FIAPF-accredited competitive festival it programmes world and international premieres alongside strong retrospectives, and it has kept a reputation for being unusually open and public, with young audiences camping and queueing for tickets rather than a red-carpet-only affair. The setting, a 19th-century spa resort of grand hotels, hot springs and forested hills, makes it as much a summer pilgrimage as a screening schedule. The 2026 edition is the 60th, marking 80 years since the first festival.
Best months
The festival runs for nine days in early July, with the main venues walkable along the Tepla valley around the Hotel Thermal. July in Karlovy Vary is warm, and the town and its hotels are fully booked during the festival. Public screening passes and single tickets sell through the festival; the spa town itself stays open year round for its springs and colonnades.
Getting there & around
Karlovy Vary is about two hours west of Prague by direct bus or road, with the festival venues concentrated around the Hotel Thermal and the spa colonnades. Accommodation fills months ahead for the festival, so book early or stay in Prague and travel in. The town is compact and walkable, with the film venues, springs and cafes close together.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (1)
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
OrganizerThe Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has been organised since 1998 by Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary, a joint-stock company in Prague. First held in 1946, it is the largest film festival in the Czech Republic and one of the oldest in the world, with FIAPF accreditation as a competitive feature festival. Each July it runs hundreds of screenings, an official competition and industry events across Karlovy Vary from the Hotel Thermal, drawing tens of thousands of viewers.