From George Clooney and Pamela Anderson to Orlando Bloom, Cartier, Campari and the most exclusive nights on the Lido: the updated calendar of events surrounding the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, September 1–12
Updated August 29, 2026
At Venice, the official programme tells only part of the story. The other begins when screenings end, boats pull away from the Lido and guests disperse across hotel terraces, historic palazzi, private clubs and beaches transformed for a single night.
From September 2 to 12, 2026, the 83rd Venice International Film Festival will once again bring directors, actors and producers to the lagoon, alongside fashion houses, luxury brands, media groups and cultural institutions that have turned the Venetian calendar into one of the most concentrated international gatherings of the year.
Cinema remains the centre of gravity – Milano Luxury Life follows the official selection in its complete Italian guide to the 2026 Venice Film Festival, its films, guests and protagonists – but beyond the screening rooms another Venice takes shape, where film, fashion, art, hospitality, music and philanthropy continually overlap.
The social calendar has taken shape particularly late this year. In the final days of August came confirmation of the masterclasses with George Clooney, Chloé Zhao, Luc Besson, Luca Guadagnino and Ellen Burstyn; the Filming Italy Venice Award line-up with Orlando Bloom and Irina Shayk; Pamela Anderson at amfAR Venezia; the Campari Lounge programme; and a growing number of beach parties and private events across the Lido.
Milano Luxury Life is following those developments in its continuously updated Italian guide, Venezia 83: tutti gli eventi, party e gala della Mostra del Cinema 2026. What follows is the international edition of that agenda, updated as of August 29.
September 1: Tinto Brass, Harry Potter and the night before Venice officially begins
The Festival formally opens on September 2, yet Venice will already be moving the previous evening. On Tuesday, September 1, the Biennale will present the world premiere of the new 4K restoration of Tinto Brass’s 1967 pop thriller Col cuore in gola at 9 pm in the Sala Darsena. Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Ewa Aulin, with graphic consultancy by Guido Crepax, the restoration was produced by the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia with the support of Netflix.
Elsewhere in the city, a completely different cinematic phenomenon will arrive in the lagoon. Back to Hogwarts comes to Venice as part of the international celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
The Italian event is expected to be strictly invitation-only, with its final location withheld from guests until arrival. Transfers have been indicated from Piazza San Marco and the Lido, with spaces dedicated to the Harry Potter universe and a celebratory screening of the first film later in the evening.
The choice of Venice is revealing. The days surrounding the Film Festival have become an exceptional international amplifier not only for cinema but also for global entertainment franchises capable of spanning film, streaming, publishing, licensing and retail.
The Venetian press has also reported a Variety Party at the Hotel Excelsior on September 1. Until direct public confirmation is issued by Variety, however, it should be regarded as a highly credible local report rather than part of the confirmed public programme.
September 2: opening night, Greta Scarano and the first gatherings at the Excelsior
On Wednesday, September 2, the ritual of the Palazzo del Cinema begins in earnest. Greta Scarano and Nicolas Maupas will host the opening ceremony in the Sala Grande and return on September 12 for the closing ceremony and announcement of the official awards. Danny Boyle’s Ink, starring Jack O’Connell, Guy Pearce and Claire Foy, will open the Competition.
While the red carpet concentrates attention outside the Palazzo del Cinema, the parallel network of hospitality spaces will also begin operating.
Campari returns to the Terrazza Biennale opposite the Palazzo del Casinò for its ninth consecutive year. Opening night will bring together the Italian press in the Campari Lounge, followed by a DJ set, while cocktails throughout the Festival will once again be created in collaboration with Milan institution Camparino in Galleria.
At the Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido, another of the Festival’s increasingly important hospitality platforms will open at 6.30 pm: La Terrazza by Atlas Concorde.
Created and curated by Joydis, the space will remain active from September 2 to 12, bringing together film, design, business, food and lifestyle. A closing event is scheduled for September 11 from 5 pm.
The Excelsior therefore resumes a role that extends far beyond accommodation. During Venice, it operates almost as an unofficial headquarters for an entire ecosystem of stars, productions, press offices, luxury companies and international media.
The Hotel Excelsior, once again the Lido’s grand salon
Certain Venice addresses require no single date because they become part of the Festival calendar in their own right. The Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido, linked to the Film Festival since its first edition in 1932, remains the most important crossroads between cinema and hospitality on the island.
For the entire Festival, Kérastase will operate a dedicated lounge inside the hotel. Returning to Venice for the ninth consecutive year, the luxury haircare brand is also Official Hair Partner to Greta Scarano and will deploy a team of more than 70 hairstylists to prepare national and international guests ahead of red carpets and events.
The lounge will also place the brand’s Chronologiste line and new hair-longevity treatments at the centre of its hospitality programme, a sign of the increasingly close relationship between beauty, longevity and the luxury experience.
Elsewhere on the Lido, Google Beach at Blue Moon will bring together digital technology, creativity and industry discussions, while RTL 102.5, official radio partner of the Festival, will broadcast from the Palazzo del Casinò and programme DJ sets throughout Venice 83.
Hospitality in the city itself is changing too. One of Venice’s most famous addresses recently returned to the lagoon under Four Seasons management. Milano Luxury Life explored the reopening, architecture and new chapter of the property in the Italian feature Il Danieli torna sulla Laguna: Four Seasons riapre il palazzo che ha ospitato il mondo.
During the Film Festival, that reopening adds another major address to the traditional circuit between San Marco, Giudecca and the Lido.
September 3: George Clooney and the first major masterclass
On Thursday, September 3, one of the Festival’s most anticipated personalities will step outside the conventional red-carpet format. At 4 pm, George Clooney, recipient of the 2026 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, will take part in a masterclass at the Match Point Arena at Tennis Club Venezia, directly opposite the Excelsior.
The conversation, moderated by critic Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan, will be open to accredited Festival guests and livestreamed by the Biennale.
The Campari Lounge will meanwhile host a programme including Shumei: The Living Legacy of Kabuki, an aperitivo with the cast of La città dei vivi and, later in the evening, a party for Il Grande Giaffa with Edoardo Pesce, Carlotta Gamba and Barbara Chichiarelli.
Local reports also point to a celebration connected to Gianni Amelio’s new film at Pagoda, on the Des Bains beach. It is precisely this layer of production dinners and privately organised gatherings that gives Venice its distinctive rhythm: many of the most coveted invitations never appear in the official Festival programme.
September 4: Chloé Zhao, Kinéo and Bob Sinclar on the beach
Friday, September 4, will show the Lido in its two most characteristic modes.
At 3.30 pm, Chloé Zhao and cinematographer Łukasz Żal will take part in The Art and Craft of Cinema at the Match Point Arena, the first of two masterclasses organised with Cartier. Luca Guadagnino will headline the second on September 7.
At 5 pm, the Italian Pavilion at the Hotel Excelsior will host the press conference for the Kinéo Award, preparing the ground for the ceremony celebrating the award’s 25th anniversary the following day.
The Campari Lounge will devote part of the afternoon to Nicola Sorcinelli’s Balcanica, with a press junket featuring Matilda De Angelis, while later the venue will welcome the delegation of The Basics of Philosophy, including Karl Glusman, Bill Pullman and Sofia Boutella.
Then the register changes.
From 11 pm, Bob Sinclar is expected at the Des Bains 1900 Beach Club, while Mamacita makes its Lido debut at Sabia Venice, with a night of reggaeton, urban music and hip-hop running from 10.30 pm until 4 am.
Venice’s beachfront thus returns to the nocturnal map of the Festival, alongside hotel terraces and private palazzi.
September 5: Faye Dunaway, Nicola Peltz Beckham and Cartier at La Fenice
Saturday, September 5, begins at the Excelsior with an event devoted to cinematic audio. Audible will present Dracula: A New Chapter in Cinematic Audio, featuring director Mary Lambert and a cast including Riccardo Scamarcio, Benedetta Porcaroli, Asier Etxeandia and Claudia Salas.
Scamarcio and Porcaroli will later appear at the Campari Lounge, where Porcaroli is also expected to take part in a dedicated masterclass. The evening programme there will turn to Serpenti, with Alessandro Borghi, Valeria Golino, Pietro Castellitto and Leonardo Lidi among the guests connected to the film.
At 5 pm, attention shifts to Casa Cinema Giovani for the 25th anniversary edition of the Kinéo Award.
The ceremony brings together an international line-up headed by Faye Dunaway, who will receive a Career Award, and Nicola Peltz Beckham, recipient of the Rising Star Award. Other announced guests include Alp Navruz, Oka Giner and Chiara Francini.
Following the ceremony and red carpet, invited guests will move to Ca’ Sagredo Hotel for a private gala dinner.
At 8 pm, another section of Venice’s cultural map opens at Teatro La Fenice, where the Cartier Cinema Club celebrates ten years since the Venice world premiere of La La Land with La La Land in Concert.
Academy Award-winning composer Justin Hurwitz will conduct the Orchestra Regionale Filarmonia Veneta and choir, with Randy Kerber at the piano. The performance is already sold out.
September 6: Orlando Bloom, Irina Shayk and Pamela Anderson on Venice’s most crowded Sunday
If one date currently looks set to concentrate the highest number of international names, it is Sunday, September 6. At 4 pm, filmmaker Luc Besson will take part in a masterclass at the Match Point Arena.
At the Hotel Excelsior, meanwhile, the Sala degli Stucchi will host the eighth Filming Italy Venice Award, created and directed by Tiziana Rocca.
Its 2026 guest list makes it one of the strongest celebrity gatherings of the Festival: Orlando Bloom and Irina Shayk are among the international recipients, alongside names including Lino Banfi, Alba Rohrwacher, Gabriele Muccino, Mario Martone, Francesca Comencini, Emmanuelle Béart, Monica Guerritore and Matilde Gioli.
Bloom’s presence has an additional cinematic dimension: he also appears in Werner Herzog’s Bucking Fastard, selected for Competition.
The Campari Lounge will host a Filming Italy-related event and another gathering connected with Soho House. Later, The Echo Chamber will move beyond the screening room with Luca Marinelli, Alicia Vikander and Susan Sarandon among the personalities expected.
Then the evening crosses the lagoon. At the Hilton Molino Stucky Venice, on Giudecca, amfAR Venezia returns for its sixth edition.
Pamela Anderson will receive the amfAR Award of Courage, while Marina Abramović will be honoured with the Award of Inspiration. Taika Waititi will host the evening, with Bebe Rexha headlining the musical entertainment and Mimi Webb opening the gala.
The black-tie dinner, live auction and fundraising programme make amfAR far more than a celebrity gathering. It has become one of Venice’s most effective intersections between luxury, cinema, contemporary art and philanthropy.
Milano Luxury Life has dedicated a separate Italian feature to the event, Pamela Anderson e Marina Abramović ad amfAR Venezia 2026: il gala al Molino Stucky, examining the awards, performers, luxury partnerships and fundraising dimension of the September 6 gala.
The concentration of Bloom, Shayk, Anderson, Abramović and Bebe Rexha across the Excelsior, the Campari Lounge and the Molino Stucky makes September 6 the unquestioned centre of the Festival’s social calendar.
September 7: Luca Guadagnino, Greta Scarano and the next generation
On Monday, September 7, Luca Guadagnino will take part in the second Cartier Art and Craft of Cinema masterclass at the Match Point Arena at 3.30 pm.
The event precedes by one day the presentation of the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award to the Italian director.
The Campari Lounge will turn its attention to I figli della scimmia, first through press activities and later through a party bringing together Riccardo Scamarcio, Fausto Russo Alesi, Lidiya Liberman, Cristina Odasso, Tancredi Naldini, Andrea Aggio and Luigi Diberti.
Greta Scarano will also appear at the Lounge for a conversation devoted to her career and her relationship with acting.
The same day, Forbes Italia will present the winners of Next Stars 2026, its project dedicated to emerging acting talent. In a Festival overwhelmingly driven by established names, the initiative creates an interesting counterpoint: Venice as a place not merely for celebrating careers, but for identifying the next ones.
September 8: Cartier honours Guadagnino, Dardust plays Campari and Better World Fund takes over Piazza San Marco
Tuesday, September 8, will move between the Palazzo del Casinò, the Lido and the monumental centre of Venice.
At 3 pm, Cartier and the Biennale will present the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award 2026 to Luca Guadagnino, recognising a filmmaker whose work has made a particularly original contribution to contemporary cinema.
The ceremony will precede the out-of-competition presentation of his new documentary Joie de vivre.
At 4 pm, the Match Point Arena will host Ellen Burstyn, recipient of the 2026 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, for the final masterclass in this year’s series.
The confirmed programme therefore brings together George Clooney on September 3, Chloé Zhao and Łukasz Żal on September 4, Luc Besson on September 6, Luca Guadagnino on September 7 and Ellen Burstyn on September 8.
At the Campari Lounge, Una Storia will bring together Anna Foglietta, Alba Rohrwacher and Guido Caprino, before an evening live performance by Dardust.
Later, the social centre of gravity will move to Piazza San Marco. The Procuratie Vecchie, home to The Human Safety Net, will host the Better World Fund. Its programme begins during the day with a forum devoted to cinema’s ability to influence society before culminating in the Gala for Humanity, with red carpet, dinner, charity auction and Better World Awards.
Egypt will be the 2026 country of honour, while the programme will place particular emphasis on women’s rights, gender equality and education.
September 9: Ferragamo, Italian cinema and the Campari Lounge
On Wednesday, September 9, the Campari Lounge will host a programme connected with Un passo alla volta – Ferragamo, featuring Martina Ferragamo, Margherita Buy and Francesco Centorame.
It will be followed by Tutte o Nessuna, with Violante Placido, Donatella Finocchiaro and William Baldwin, while Peccato will have its own evening gathering at the venue.
This is less a day of a single grand gala than an illustration of what the major Festival lounges have become: spaces that extend the life of films beyond screenings, connect casts to the industry and allow cinema and brands to meet outside the conventional structure of sponsorship.
September 10: Serena Rossi receives the Campari Passion for Film Award
On Thursday, September 10, at 9.30 pm in the Sala Grande, the Campari Passion for Film Award 2026 will be presented to Serena Rossi.
The ceremony will precede the out-of-competition screening of Mario Martone’s Scherzetto, starring Toni Servillo, Lorenzo Perrotta, Serena Rossi, Leonardo Lidi, Giovanni Ludeno and Gianluca Di Gennaro.
Earlier in the day, the Campari Lounge will also host the Son of a Pitch Award, continuing a programme that deliberately spreads the brand’s involvement across almost the entire Festival rather than concentrating it in one highly visible night.
September 11: Ca’ Sagredo and the final nights before the awards
On Friday, September 11, Venice’s attention will again move towards the Grand Canal. The Ca’ Sagredo Hotel will host La Dolce Vita – Gala Dinner & Awards, a black-tie event scheduled during the closing stretch of the Festival.
The evening is expected to begin with guest arrivals and cocktails before moving into the formal gala dinner.
Earlier, from 5 pm, the Hotel Excelsior will host the Closing event of La Terrazza by Atlas Concorde, concluding ten days of encounters, hospitality and private programming.
The Campari Lounge will welcome One Minute to Midnight, with director Nicolas Pariser and Chiara Mastroianni, for one of the final cast-related gatherings before closing day.
September 12: the final red carpet and Venice after the Golden Lion
On Saturday, September 12, Greta Scarano and Nicolas Maupas return to the Sala Grande for the closing ceremony, the Golden Lion and the remaining official awards of Venice 83.
The Campari Lounge will host the Fanheart3 Awards and an event connected with DIO RIDE, bringing together Giovanni Veronesi, Pierfrancesco Favino, Silvio Orlando, Alma Noce, Francesco Gheghi, Maurizio Lombardi, Paolo Rossi, Anna Ferzetti and Valeria Solarino.
The closing ceremony will also include the Armani beauty Audience Award, presented to the most popular film among the eight titles in Venice Spotlight.
After the official prizes, one final layer of Venice begins: production dinners, closing parties and private receptions whose locations and guest lists often circulate only in the final hours.
Armani beauty and the DVF Awards: what remains unconfirmed
A precise distinction is necessary between a brand’s presence at the Festival and an event that has been formally announced. Armani beauty is a confirmed partner of the Venice Film Festival and the Audience Award is part of the official programme. At the time of publication, however, Milano Luxury Life has not found a primary announcement from Armani or the Biennale confirming the date and venue of an Armani beauty Gala Dinner for 2026.
The same degree of caution applies to the DVF Awards, Diane von Furstenberg’s long-established initiative in Venice. Its return is widely expected, but a final public date for the 2026 edition has yet to be released by the organisation.
In an environment where invitation lists frequently circulate before official announcements, that distinction matters.
Venice 83: the Festival continues long after the screening ends
Seen as a whole, the calendar reveals a city capable of holding together worlds that elsewhere would remain separate.
Cinema brings the guests. Hotels create the meeting places. Fashion houses and luxury companies turn awards, concerts and hospitality into cultural and relationship-building platforms. Philanthropy occupies some of Venice’s most important buildings. The Lido’s beaches become clubs. Piazza San Marco enters the Festival’s night-time geography.
The Excelsior remains the great crossroads. Campari builds an almost daily programme on the Terrazza Biennale. Cartier links masterclasses, an award and a concert at La Fenice. amfAR brings Pamela Anderson and Marina Abramović to Giudecca. Better World Fund takes over the Procuratie Vecchie. Ca’ Sagredo returns as the setting for awards and private dinners.
The Venice Film Festival lasts eleven days, but the economic and relational density it generates reaches far beyond cinema, involving hospitality, fashion, beauty, jewellery, food, entertainment, media and mobility.
That is why Venice still carries a weight that cannot be measured simply by counting films, tickets or red carpets.
The official programme tells us when the lights go down in the screening room. In Venice, that is often when the other half of the story begins.
