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El Gouna · Festivals · Updated November 2026
The El Gouna Film Festival 2026 ran from 15 to 23 October in El Gouna, a resort town on the Red Sea near Hurghada. It was the ninth edition, and it has now ended. The dates for 2027 have not been announced yet. In recent years the organisers named the dates early in the year, and the festival has been held in autumn. Below is what the festival is, where the films are shown, how tickets work, and how to plan a trip around it.
| El Gouna Film Festival | Cairo International Film Festival | |
|---|---|---|
| Dates | 15 to 23 October 2026 (ended). 2027 not announced yet | 11 to 20 November 2026 |
| Status | 9th edition, founded 2017 | 47th edition, founded 1976 |
| Where | A resort town on the Red Sea, near Hurghada | The Cairo Opera House, in Zamalek |
| Main screens | Sea Cinema El Gouna, three screens | Venues on the Opera House grounds |
| Best paired with | A beach week, or the road to Luxor | The pyramids and the city's museums |
The short answer
Pick El Gouna if you want films with a beach week. Pick Cairo if you want films with the pyramids and museums. They fall about a month apart, so one autumn trip rarely catches both.
The 2026 festival ran from 15 to 23 October. It was the ninth edition. The festival's own site reported the close on 24 October 2026.
The 2027 dates are not out yet. We checked the festival's site on 6 November 2026. In recent years the dates were announced between January and March, so watch for news early in 2027.
Past editions have all fallen in autumn. If you want to go next year, keep October and early November open until the dates are confirmed.
It is a film festival on Egypt's Red Sea coast, founded in 2017. It shows films from Egypt and abroad, with awards, including an audience award (the Cinema for Humanity Audience Award).
It is also an industry event. Film makers and press come for screenings and talks. Alongside the films, a programme called CineGouna Funding supports new projects.
For a visitor, it means red carpets in a small resort town and a busy week of films by the sea.
The main venue is Sea Cinema El Gouna. It was built for the first festival and now runs all year. It has three screens and 649 seats in total.
The Gouna Conference and Culture Centre, also called the Festival Plaza, has hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. It has also held red carpet premieres and music nights.
Check the festival's website for the programme, screens and times of each edition.
The festival's website has a Tickets link, which for 2026 led to a ticketing page for the ninth edition. There is also a separate accreditation process for the industry side.
The site gives no ticket prices, pass types or sale dates. So we cannot tell you what a ticket costs or how fast they go.
Our advice is simple. Once the 2027 dates are out, check the festival's site for tickets before you book flights. Plan the trip around the beach, and treat the films as a bonus.
Fly to Hurghada. The airport is roughly half an hour from El Gouna by road. It is well served by charter flights, and by flights from Cairo.
From Luxor, the road to the coast takes about four hours. That is how most of our Nile and Red Sea trips reach Hurghada.
From Cairo, it is a short flight to Hurghada. Our Cairo to Hurghada page compares the options.
Stay in El Gouna itself if you want to walk to the screenings and the restaurants. It is a built lagoon town with its own marina. It costs more than Hurghada for a similar room.
Stay in Hurghada if you want more choice and lower prices. You will need a taxi or transfer each way, about half an hour.
Festival week brings guests, press and film people to a small town. Book early. The festival's site links to El Gouna's own hotel list.
Warm. The sea is around 28C in October, so swimming is easy.
It is also a good month for the Nile. Luxor drops to about 34C in October, which makes a combined river and beach trip work well.
We sell trips run by our partner, Memphis Tours. None is timed for the festival, and none stays in El Gouna. Three include free days in Hurghada, half an hour away. Prices are from-prices per person, in US dollars.
Cairo, Luxor and the Red Sea, 8 days, from US$2,040, has two nights in Hurghada. Nile Cruise and Hurghada, 10 days, from US$2,310, and Cairo, a Nile Cruise and Hurghada, 11 days, from US$2,560, both have free days on the coast.
If your dates match the festival, tell us when you send your request. We will ask Memphis Tours whether the Red Sea nights can move to El Gouna, and what it costs.
Not announced yet, as of 6 November 2026. The 2026 festival ran from 15 to 23 October. In recent years the dates came out between January and March.
The festival's site has a Tickets link for each edition, as well as accreditation for the industry. It does not publish prices or pass types. Check the site once the next dates are out.
On Egypt's Red Sea coast, just north of Hurghada. Hurghada airport is roughly half an hour away by road.
In 2017. The 2026 festival was the ninth edition.
Sea Cinema El Gouna, built for the first festival, with three screens and 649 seats. Ceremonies have taken place at the Gouna Conference and Culture Centre.
Yes. Luxor is about four hours from the coast by road. Many trips do the temples first, then drive to the Red Sea for a few days.
Check the current travel advice from the US State Department and the UK FCDO before you book. Both cover the Red Sea coast.
Entry rules, opening hours, security advice and exchange rates all move. Check them at the source, not here.
Written and checked by the Nile Trip Guide editorial team · Last reviewed . Entry rules, prices and opening hours change — check anything critical against the official sources linked on this page.
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