Reel Pride is Winnipeg’s queer film festival, and it lands in the middle of September. The 2026 edition, the 41st, ran Wednesday, September 16 to Sunday, September 20, with most of the programme at the Gas Station Arts Centre and the closing weekend at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Forty-one years is a long run for a festival this size, and it shows in how the week is put together: five nights, nine features, and a short film competition rather than a sprawling multiplex schedule you need a spreadsheet to navigate.

Has this year’s festival already happened?

Yes. The 2026 dates have passed. Reel Pride has held to mid-September for years, so if you are planning a trip around the next edition, hold the third week of September loosely and watch reelpride.ca for the firm dates. The festival announces its programme not long before it opens, which is normal for a festival that sources films from six or seven countries.

Where do the screenings happen?

The main venue is the Gas Station Arts Centre at 445 River Avenue, on the Osborne Village side of the Assiniboine. It is a converted service station, which is exactly what the name says, and the room is small enough that a sold-out screening feels full rather than cavernous. The closing stretch of the festival moves to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights at The Forks, where the Short Film Celebration and the final feature screen in the museum’s own theatre. Which of the Saturday and Sunday slots sit at the museum has moved between editions, so check the schedule rather than assuming.

What do tickets cost, and where do I buy them?

Tickets and full festival passes are sold through reelpride.ca. The museum screenings are priced separately: the Canadian Museum for Human Rights listed them at $10 plus fees per projection in 2026. A pass is the better value if you intend to see more than three or four things, and the small room at the Gas Station is the reason to buy ahead rather than at the door.

What kind of films is it showing?

The 2026 feature programme was nine films, from Japan, Chile, France, Spain, Canada and the United States, which is a wider net than most festivals this size cast. The closing night was the Canadian premiere of The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, at 2 p.m. at the museum. Alongside the features runs a short film competition drawn from open submissions by queer filmmakers across Canada; the 2026 call brought in 75 of them. If you only have one afternoon, the shorts programme is the one that gives you the most range for a single ticket.

Can I get to the Gas Station Arts Centre without driving?

Easily. Route 16, the Selkirk-Osborne, runs up Osborne Street and stops at River, which puts you a block from the door. Osborne Village is also one of the few parts of Winnipeg where walking between a meal and a screening is the obvious choice rather than a small act of endurance. September light matters here. Sunset in Winnipeg falls around 7:40 in the middle of the month, and it is dropping by a couple of minutes a day, so an evening screening starts in daylight and lets you out into the dark. Bring a layer. River Avenue cools off quickly once the sun is behind the houses.

Before you go: Reel Pride sets its dates, its venues and its ticket prices fresh each year, and the full schedule goes up only weeks ahead. Confirm all three at reelpride.ca before booking travel around it.

Where should I stay for Reel Pride?

The festival’s main venue is one of the easiest things in Winnipeg to reach from our three-bedroom house in Crescentwood. It is a 23-minute walk, about 1.6 kilometres, and it stays on this side of the Assiniboine the whole way, so there is no bridge and almost no grade. You can walk to a 7 p.m. screening after dinner at the house and walk home afterwards. The museum end of the festival is a 10-minute drive, 3.9 kilometres, the same trip as going to The Forks for anything else.

Mid-September is a busy stretch for Winnipeg accommodation: the festival season has not finished and the conference season has started, so rooms near Osborne Village and downtown go early. Our Airbnb listing has the dates and the nightly rate.