Sitges has run its fantastic film festival since 1968, and it now sits alongside Toronto and Cannes as one of the genre festivals that matters — the place where horror, science fiction and fantasy premiere before anywhere else in Europe. The 59th edition runs 8 to 18 October 2026. Directors turn up, the Auditori queues stretch down the street, and the town wears it well.
What to expect. Screenings across the Auditori, the Retiro and the Prado, from midnight horror to restored classics, plus the Zombie Walk that fills the seafront with several thousand people in stage blood. Individual tickets go on sale ahead of the festival and the headline titles sell out fast; there are passes if you plan to make a week of it. If you are not a genre obsessive it is still a good few days — the town is at its best in October, warm and finally quiet.
Practical bit. Sitges is 40 minutes down the coast from Barcelona and the trains are frequent, so you do not strictly need a car for the festival itself. You do if you want the Penedès wine country behind the town, which is 20 minutes inland and largely empty in October.
