The TCFF is for everyone, no wallet required! Using the tips below, you can enjoy world-class entertainment and excitement from morning to night for FREE, or at low cost, every day of the film festival.
FREE Movies at The Buzz
This year marks the debut of The Buzz, our new indoor venue dedicated to offering FREE screenings for the public all day, every festival day. Almost too good to be true, right? Free tickets to these screenings will be available for pick up at the Main Box Office at 201 E. Front Street, or by calling 231-242-FILM, when public ticketing begins on Saturday, July 19. And even if you’re unable to reserve a seat in advance, standby lines will form before each show.
FREE Movies in Open Space 
Bring a lawn chair or blanket for an evening out with friends and family as you watch some of Hollywood’s most beloved classics on a gigantic screen right on the Bay at dusk. This year is extra special: we’re showing the best Open Space movies from the past nine years! Arrive early at 7 pm for FREE music and entertainment.
FREE Filmmaker Panels
Running Wednesday to Sunday each morning at 9:30 am at the City Opera House, and on select evenings at 6 pm in Clinch Park, our FREE filmmaker panels bring together movie luminaries for lively, no-holds-barred conversations you won’t see anywhere else.
FREE Discussions at the Cinema Salon
Following select 12 pm and 3 pm screenings, you can join fellow movie lovers at the Cinema Salon on the Patio at Clinch Park for informal, insightful discussions in the round about movies that are sure to generate conversation.
FREE Music on The Patio in Clinch Park
Relax by one of Traverse City’s most popular beaches while enjoying the musical talents of some of our area’s leading artists on the Patio.
FREE Kids Fest and $1 Films
Bring your young ones and future cinephiles to the $1 kids film screenings Wednesday-Saturday at 9:30 am at Lars Hockstad Auditorium for a delightful cultural and educational adventure—and FREE popcorn! Then walk outside onto the beautiful lawn for our FREE lawn party that is brimming with film-related fun and activities. Your kids won’t want to leave!
Film School Classes
For the low, low price of just $5, you can learn about filmmaking from world-renowned experts, college professors, and visiting filmmakers—a truly enriching and invaluable experience for any budding filmmaker or film fan.
FREE Movies for Volunteers
If you can volunteer for three shifts or more, you will receive a FREE volunteer tshirt and get to attend the FREE pre-fest volunteer screening and post-fest volunteer party, all while making an important contribution to the festival. Plus, at the volunteer screening, we hand out FREE festival tickets to volunteers! Sign up on our website today at tcff.org, or call the
festival office at 231-392-1134.
FREE Park and Ride Shuttle
We make it easy to get around the festival for FREE with our BATA shuttle buses. Just park on the west side of town in the Thirlby Field Parking Lot, or on the east side in the Cherry Lot at Northwestern Michigan College, and leave the driving (and the parking!) to us.