HIFF's Final Weekend Works Without an Advance Ticket

"Nothing is Ever 'Sold Out'" is the headline the Hamptons International Film Festival chose for its rush-line policy this year. The figure behind it is the reason to plan the holiday weekend around it. In 2025, the festival sold rush tickets to 98% of its screenings.

The 34th festival runs October 2 to 12. Its last three days, Saturday the 10th through Monday the 12th, carry most of its big names. That Saturday also brings the ARF dog walk, the Wölffer harvest party, the Montauk Fall Festival and the Long Pond Greenbelt celebration. The two calendars fit together better than they look. HIFF's best events sit in a few late-morning and afternoon slots at Guild Hall. The rush line removes the need to commit weeks ahead. Free Jitney rides cover the trip between towns. Taken together, the closing weekend works for someone who lives here and wants to fit a film around everything else.

How the Rush Line Works

A rush line forms at each venue about 30 minutes before a screening starts. About five minutes before start time, staff begin admitting people from it, depending on how many seats are open. The rules are short. Admission is never guaranteed. Each person can buy one ticket, so everyone in your party has to stand in line. Senior and member discounts do not apply to rush tickets.

The policy that keeps the rush line full applies to ticket holders. To guarantee a seat, a ticket or pass holder has to be in line at least 30 minutes before start time. After that, the festival can sell any empty seats. Advance tickets were priced from $20, up to $45 for opening night, and festival packages started at $180. If you never bought one, the rush line is a realistic way into almost any screening. It means arriving early. It does not mean planning in September.

Saturday, October 10, in Order

Saturday is the crowded day. The outdoor events cluster in the morning and the festival's conversations start at noon, so it can be planned as one long day.

1. 9 a.m., Mulford Farm, East Hampton. Gates open for ARF Hamptons' Stroll to the Sea Dog Walk. The route runs to Main Beach and back, with contests, a photo booth and a silent auction for ARF's shelter and rescue work.
2. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Vineyard Field, Bridgehampton. The Long Pond Greenbelt Annual Celebration takes place behind the SOFO Museum at 377 Sag Harbor/Bridgehampton Turnpike. It offers walks, children's crafts, animals and displays from environmental groups.
3. 11 a.m., Montauk Town Green. The 45th Montauk Fall Festival opens. It runs until 5 p.m., admission is free, and the clam chowder contest is Saturday only.
4. Noon, Guild Hall. Jesse Eisenberg's conversation. His film The Debut, starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, screens twice that afternoon at Southampton Playhouse, at 2:00 and 2:15 p.m.
5. Noon to 4 p.m., The Wine Stand, Sagaponack. Wölffer Estate's 35th annual Harvest Party, with live music, food stations, grape-stomping, barrel-rolling and hayrides. Tickets are required, and October 11 is the rain date.
6. 2 p.m., Regal UA East Hampton Cinema. Avedon, Ron Howard's documentary, listed by the festival as an East Coast premiere, with a Q&A expected afterward.
7. 5 p.m., Guild Hall. A conversation with Ron Howard.
8. 7 p.m., Guild Hall. The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, starring John Turturro.

The order makes the day work. The dog walk and the Greenbelt celebration finish before HIFF's noon slot. Wölffer's party runs four hours, long enough to visit before or after the Eisenberg conversation. Howard's documentary and his conversation are three hours apart in East Hampton, with the Turturro film two hours after that. If you start at Mulford Farm, you can spend the whole evening in East Hampton village.

Beyond the South Fork towns, the Inlet2Inlet Beach Clean-Up & Fall Fair runs the same Saturday. The cleanup covers Dune Road from Moriches Inlet to Shinnecock Inlet, and the fair is on The Great Lawn in Westhampton Beach.

Sunday Is Balaban's Day

On Sunday the festival honors one of its own. Bryan Cranston will present Bob Balaban with HIFF's Lifetime Achievement Award at a screening of Best in Show on October 11. Most of the day is at Guild Hall again, with Turturro's film running a second time in Southampton for anyone who missed it Saturday.

The Juliet Garrett concert is an outdoor performance in the sculpture garden at The Leiber Collection. It starts at the same time as the Southampton screenings, so you will likely have to pick between Springs and the Playhouse.

Monday's Closing Night Falls on the Holiday

October 12 is Indigenous Peoples' Day, and the festival ends that evening. The closing-night film is Wicker, a romantic comedy starring Olivia Colman alongside Alexander Skarsgård. It screens at 6:00 p.m. at Guild Hall, with a Q&A expected after that screening, and at 6:30 p.m. at Regal UA East Hampton. Avedon screens a second time at 5:15 p.m. at the Regal. The festival says it will announce its audience award winners at the end of the festival.

There are two closing-night screenings on a holiday evening, and the Q&A is at the earlier one. The 30-minute arrival rule still applies to ticket holders, so the Guild Hall rush line is the one to join early.

Getting Between Towns by Jitney

Saturday's schedule covers Montauk, Sagaponack, Bridgehampton and East Hampton, and that only works if getting between them is easy. A festival badge or ticket gets you a free ride on any regularly scheduled Hampton Jitney coach between Southampton and Montauk. The Montauk line timetable in effect from October 1 to 14 stops in Southampton, Water Mill, Bridgehampton, Wainscott, East Hampton, Amagansett, Napeague and Montauk, with Sag Harbor on selected runs.

In East Hampton village, a separate free shuttle loop runs continuously on both festival weekends. It starts 30 minutes before the first screening and ends 30 minutes after the last. Stops include East Hampton House, the westbound and eastbound Jitney stops, and the White Room Gallery, which also serves as the Festival Lounge and Box Office. With the ticket stub from a Saturday screening, you can ride the coach to Montauk Town Green for the chowder contest without dealing with parking there.

Where to Eat Between Screenings

The obvious dinner option is a few doors from the festival venues. Lion's Nook opened at 10 Main Street in East Hampton just before July Fourth. Its owners are Alex Rossi and his partner Gary Fuhrman, and Fabian Rodas is executive chef. When it was announced in March, it was planned as a year-round restaurant, which matters once the summer places start to close. A September review listed dinner Tuesday through Sunday from 5 to 10 p.m., with happy hour daily from 4 to 6. That works well for Saturday between the Howard conversation and the 7 p.m. Turturro screening. By those listed hours, it is closed Monday, which is closing night.

For Monday, Almond in Bridgehampton announced a fall lineup that starts on Mondays. It includes a $39 two-course prix fixe Monday through Thursday, a meatless prix fixe on Mondays, a burger-and-beer deal on Tuesdays, mussels and fries on Wednesdays, $10 cocktails on Thursdays and karaoke on Saturdays.

One familiar option is gone. Highway Restaurant & Bar served its last dinner on September 7 at 290 Montauk Highway in East Hampton, after more than ten years. Its management said the closure applied only to that location, and the East Hampton Star reported a hint that the brand could return somewhere else.

The Rest of October

The calendar keeps going after the festival ends. The Town of Southampton holds its Fall Family Fun Day on October 17, and Wölffer hosts its Cider Fest on October 24. The Sag Harbor Ragamuffin Parade goes down Main Street on Sunday, October 25, with children, adults and pets in Halloween costume. Guild Hall, the center of the festival weekend, hosts a Halloween silent disco on October 30 from 7 to 10 p.m. at 158 Main Street.

Film Guide listings can change during the festival, so check times and rush availability on the HIFF rush-line page and the Film Guide before you leave the house.

For many East End owners, autumn is when they start thinking about a property. It might mean planning the year ahead for a house you keep through the off-season, or looking at what is available once the summer traffic is gone. The Saez + Fromm Team handles those conversations privately and would welcome the chance to talk this fall. Request a Private Consultation.