In order to prepare and build for the future,Eerie Horror Festis taking a hiatus in 2026.
Officials atFilm Erie, which operates the Eerie Horror Fest, announced on May 4 that the Halloween-themed film festival that usually takes place in October at the Warner Theatre, is taking 2026 off to reconstruct some plans.
Those plans include how to add sustainable funding, become more independent and find more venue options.
"Becoming more independent is us wanting to work on becoming our own entity," Margaret Dieudonne, Horror Fest director, said. "We’re working toward that as well as in the future hopefully becoming a nonprofit."
Eerie Horror Fest could move from Warner Theatre
As Dieudonne mentioned, officials with the Eerie Horror Fest are seeking venue options for the future.
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The film festival has been held at the Warner Theatre at 811 State St. in the past, but officials are open to other venue options.
"That’s on the table because it's part of our plan for how we can become more sustainable," Dieudonne said. "Part of that is should we look at other venues."
No plans have been mentioned as to which venues the organization is looking at or considering. Dieudonne said the venue and vendors are a vital part in attracting guests and business to Erie.
"The energy would (have to) be the same if not more," Dieudonne said. "This is dependent on how we are able to get a venue because we might be able to get bigger guests, and more vendors because we could have the funds to put towards that. It’s part of our long-term vision in order to help people. It’s having a nice variety of programming and giving an avenue for filmmakers to come into Erie."
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The venue options will determine the fundraising goals in the future for the Horror Fest.
"We will be doing fundraising and don’t have a goal yet that will be based on the venue search to make sure that we have an attainable fundraising goal," Dieudonne said.
Bringing more filmmakers to Erie
Another long-term goal for Film Erie that includes the Eerie Horror Fest is to bring more filmmakers to Erie and show them what the area can provide.
"We want to get filmmakers from around the world, which we have," Diuedonne said. "But getting more of them to come to Erie to see Erie as a potential location and to see that we come as a full package."
Diuedonne said that filmmakers will not only be able to see the entities that the Erie scene can offer, but also that the organization has filming resources on hand if needed.
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"We have crew onsite with lots of experience, we can partner with you to reflect what a film community could look like here," Diuedonne said.
Mini programming coming in 2026
For the trueHorror Fest followers, while waiting for the 2027 festival, Film Erie plans to host some mini programming in 2026.
This program, called "Eerie Horror Fest Presents," is a smaller scale film screening that is planned to take place once or twice a month, according to officials.
Contact Nicholas Sorensen atNsorensen@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News:Eerie Horror Fest not happening in 2026 to plan for 2027
