Cinecon Classic Film Festival Opens in Los Angeles September 3rd

The 2026 Cinecon Classic Film Festival will take place at the Landmark Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles from September 3rd through 7th, 2026.

This year's 62nd festival will be a bit longer than last year's, opening on a Thursday evening, rather than Friday, and concluding on Labor Day, the 7th.

This year's location at the Nuart Theatre is also a change in venue; the last two years the festival was held at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills. More thoughts on the location are at the end of this post.

After attending Cinecon in Hollywood from 2017-2019, I had a terrific time returning to the festival last year, attending two days of the 2026 festival. Last March I also attended a Cinecon "Pop-Up" one-day festival held at the Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo.

This year's Cinecon honorees are Nancy Kwan, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Lainie Kazan, and Barbara Eden, who are all scheduled to appear in person; additionally, Pat Boone will be on hand to honor Eden. Movies Boone made with both Eden and Kwan are on the schedule.

I was fortunate to see both Eden and Boone speak at a Noir City Hollywood screening of THE YELLOW CANARY (1963) last April. I was also lucky enough to meet Kwan and have her sign my copy of her memoir at last year's Cinecon.

Looking back quite a ways in time, I also saw Anna Maria Alberghetti star in THE SOUND OF MUSIC at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach in 1985!

Cinecon chiefly focuses on rare, relatively hard-to-find films. The full schedule may be reviewed here.

This year my husband and I plan to spend Labor Day at Cinecon. The films I'm excited about seeing that day include:

*REUNION IN RENO (1951) starring Mark Stevens, Peggy Dow, Frances Dee, and Gigi Perreau, who will be a guest

*THE SECOND GREATEST SEX (1955) starring Jeanne Crain, George Nader, Mamie Van Doren, and Tommy Rall

*CHASING DANGER (1939) starring Preston Foster and Lynn Bari

*WOMAN OF THE NORTH COUNTRY (1952) starring Rod Cameron, Ruth Hussey, John Agar, and Gale Storm

*THAT'S MY GAL (1947) starring Lynne Roberts and Don "Red" Barry

There are many other interesting films on the rest of the schedule, including:

*THE STARS ARE SINGING (1953) with Rosemary Clooney and Anna Maria Alberghetti

*THE MAIN ATTRACTION (1962) with Pat Boone and Nancy Kwan

*MANHATTAN HEARTBEAT (1940) with Robert Sterling and Virginia Gilmore

*ALL HANDS ON DECK (1961) with Pat Boone, Barbara Eden, and Dennis O'Keefe

*UNDER TWO FLAGS (1936) with Ronald Colman, Claudette Colbert, and Rosalind Russell

Now for some additional venue information: The main reason I'm not attending additional days this year is I would need to attend those on my own, and given that the Nuart doesn't have its own lot, I have concerns about how the parking will play out.

One of the parking lot options is a mile round-trip from the theater, and I also have concerns about whether walking to a lot that far away at the end of the day would be safe. One might be able to team up with other attendees, but there are no guarantees unless one knows other guests and can plan in advance.

It's also very problematic that there are limits on parking lot times which don't match up with the festival's hours, necessitating full-day attendees to move their cars at some point.

I could potentially end up spending quite a bit on festival passes and driving up from Orange County only to find I can't park in the hotel lot nearest the theater and am stuck with an option further away which doesn't even allow enough hours to cover a full day at the festival. Worst-case scenario, I'd find myself needing to move my car at some point from a lot which is a one-mile round-trip walk from the theater.

I understand it's a challenge for Cinecon to book theaters which will keep the festival at an affordable price, and I also want to encourage attendance at what is always a great festival, but the potential logistical and safety issues merit a frank look by prospective attendees along with the excellent schedule.

That said, my husband I look forward to attending together on the 7th.  Hopefully parking will go smoothly on the holiday and we'll have another great Cinecon day!

Visit the Cinecon site for additional information, as well as links to purchase full festival or day passes at the Eventbrite ticket site.

Previously: Cinecon 53 (2017), Cinecon 54 (2018), Cinecon 55 (2019), Cinecon Classic Film Festival Opens in Beverly Hills August 29th (Cinecon 60 2024 Preview); Cinecon Classic Film Festival Opens in Beverly Hills August 29th (Cinecon 61 2025 Preview).

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