Toronto Film Festival to Require COVID Vaccinations or Negative Test for Audiences and Staff

The Toronto International Film Festival will require its audiences, staff and guests entering any TIFF venues to be vaccinated for COVID-19, or to show proof of testing negative for the virus within 48 hours prior, the festival’s organizers announced Monday.

TIFF is returning to an in-person event this year after staging a slimmed-down festival that was a hybrid of in-person and virtual screenings last year. The Toronto festival runs from September 8-19.

Toronto’s move comes after many companies have begun requiring vaccinations alone or vaccinations and negative tests for entry into venues, including major event companies like Live Nation and AEG. But counterpart New York Film Festival also previously announced that it would be requiring vaccinations for anyone attending.

Last week, President Biden extended the restriction on non-essential travel to Canada and Mexico through at least Sept. 21 due to fears of the Delta variant of the coronavirus.

This year’s TIFF will feature films such as premieres of “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” with Jessica Chastain, the musical adaptation of “Dear Evan Hansen,” Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast,” Edgar Wright’s “Last Night in Soho” and Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” among many others.

Details on more COVID-19 safety protocols can be found here.



Festival staff, audience members and visitors entering #TIFF21 venues from September 9–18 will be required to show either proof they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or proof that they have tested negative for COVID-19 within 48 hours prior to entering any TIFF venue. pic.twitter.com/UbnaYxzuzS

— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) August 23, 2021