Come early, stay late, repeat.

We've created easy ticketing options so you can enjoy a little or a lot (we recommend the latter). You can buy individual tickets or a Festival Pass. The Festival Pass provides you (at a discount) preferred access to all Festival screenings, talks, events, etc. Just show up, flash your pass and you're in. The Festival Pass is transferable, so if you don't think you can make all the Plaza Classic's events and screenings, share it with friends! See our Tickets page for a complete listing of festival pass perks.

For those joining us from out of town (or locals that want to totally immerse themselves) - stay at the Camino Real Hotel and enjoy special Plaza Classic rates of $89 per night. The Camino Real is right across the street from the Plaza Theatre and will host some of the Festival's film talks and other events. See our Getting Here page for more information on the Camino Real Hotel.

Everything. Each Pass-holder will receive preferred access to all screenings (so you can pick your favorite seat) as well as an invitation to the Festival's Opening Night VIP Event - Sunset Boulevard - August 5th, 2010 at 7pm. Your pass will provide free admission to Picture Show: A Conversation with Peter Bogdanovich and a private reception with the director following our screening of The Last Picture Show. Festival Pass holders will also receive a 25% discount on food at the Camino Real Hotel.

You can order a Festival Pass (or Passes) by contacting The El Paso Community Foundation at (915) 533-4020. See the Tickets page for more information.

Feel free to loan your pass to a friend, or anyone else that can use it. The Pass is fully transferable and is your ticket for admission (no matter whose neck it's hanging around).

See our Getting Here page for local directions as well as guidance if you are coming from outside the area.

Many of the film selections are appropriate for the whole family. In most cases we have scheduled films that may not be appropriate for children in later time slots and/or at times when there are other options provided.

All films have an MPAA rating listed on the schedule (so if you're not sure, check). We don't want to impose our own criteria on what you take your family to, but we will be enforcing the rating system and have noted specifically where age restrictions will be applied (mainly to R-rated movies shown in earlier time slots). We want to make the Festival as comfortable and enjoyable as possible for all our attendees and that may mean, in some cases, minors won't be able to attend certain films that contain adult material.

Yes - but we're not baby-sitters. Feel free to bring your appropriately-aged kids down and drop them off. But we do mean "appropriately-aged"! (You're the best judge of the maturity of your children, so we'll leave that decision up to you). Better still, consider the Festival as a great opportunity to take a day off from work and enjoy the last days of summer along with your kids. The air-conditioning is free.

Please note: The Plaza Theatre is a historical landmark and our staff will make sure all attendees respect this remarkable venue.

If you haven't been to the Plaza Theatre before (or at least not in a while), we'd recommend you leave ample time to park your car and enjoy a leisurely stroll to the Plaza. We recommend you arrive downtown at least 30 minutes before show time. Some of the popular evening and weekend shows will be quite full, so don't be discouraged if you see a long line forming. The Plaza's Kendle Kidd Auditorium seats 2,050! We do recommend you purchase tickets or passes as early as possible however.

Pass Holders will have an "express" line, but we still recommend getting here a little early to insure your favorite seat is available.

Yes and No. Feel free to eat and drink all you want outside the Plaza Theatre and in the entrance hall, but once inside, there is no drinking or eating allowed in the theatre (so please don't test our ushers by sneaking food in). The Plaza Theatre is a regional treasure that has undergone a $38 million dollar restoration, expansion and certification as a Historic Landmark. Please respect the theatre and all its spaces so that we can all enjoy The Plaza for many years to come.

If you'd like to enjoy a libation prior to a screening or unwind with friends after, the Oasis Lounge will be open most evenings during the Festival and the Camino Real Hotel will be offering discounts on food and drinks to all festival-goers (just present your ticket stub for a 10% discount or your festival pass for a 25% discount).

See the "Getting Here" page for locations of restaurants and bars in the immediate vicinity. We encourage Festival attendees to enjoy a meal between films at one of the many eateries in the area.

Anywhere you like (except in the Theatres). We encourage all Festival attendees to watch multiple movies and enjoy a snack, lunch or dinner at one of the many restaurants and bars in the area. There will be food and drink service in Arts Festival Plaza (adjacent to the Plaza) and the Camino Real Hotel has several restaurants (The Dome and Azuelos) as well as the beautiful Dome Bar. Please see the Getting Here page for more options. All are within a few steps of the Plaza.

Absolutely. During the course of the Festival, the Plaza's organ will be played before our film screenings and off and on during the Plaza Days Open Houses on Thursday and Friday, August 5 and 6. We are fortunate to have the Plaza's original, rare and fully restored theatrical organ so come early and enjoy some great music on the Plaza's Mighty Wurlitzer.

Right next door. The Philanthropy Theatre is a new state-of-the-art digital cinema that is part of the new Plaza Theatre Annex. The Philanthropy Theatre's entrance is located between the Plaza Box Office and The Plaza Theatre's main entrance (just under the marquee). The Philanthropy Theatre seats 191 people and has the latest in high-definition projection.

Yes (and no). We are very pleased to be showing 35mm film prints for most of the presentations listed in The Plaza Theatre's Kindle Kidd Auditorium. We've worked hard to procure the best available film prints of each title and we're pleased that the major Hollywood Studios have provided us with mostly archival film prints.

In the new Philanthropy Theatre, we will be presenting digital screenings of all titles listed for this venue.

The outdoor films to be presented in Arts Festival Plaza will also be projected from digital sources.

We hope to have some surpluses from the Festival, but this is a non-profit event and a special project of the El Paso Community Foundation. All festival staff are volunteers and the Foundation devotes enormous resources and expertise to making the Plaza Classic a success. Any surpluses the Festival may generate go directly to the Plaza Film Fund, managed by the El Paso Community Foundation. Our goal is to build this fund in the coming years and use it as a grant-making source for local film-makers, alternative festivals and other film initiatives. So your support of the festival (through sponsorships, donations, and ticket purchases) will help insure there are more film projects and festival opportunities in the future.

Remember, all donations, underwriting and sponsorships are tax-deductible!

We are still accepting contributions and underwriting support for the Festival. If you'd like to help sponsor a film or event, please contact us through the Contact page, call the El Paso Community Foundation at (915)533-4020, or click on the "Donate Now" button on the Home page. You can also TEXT us a donation!

Absolutely! The Plaza Classic Film Festival is the world's largest festival devoted to classic cinema. With your help, we hope to keep the Festival growing for years to come. So invite your out-of-town friends as well.

Sure. But be forewarned: we're showing some of the greatest films ever made, in one of the country's finest movie palaces. Don't be surprised if some features are sold out prior to show time or if there's long lines at the box-office. The best way to insure a seat - buy your tickets early!

Sign-up for our mailing list and keep watching this site. From time to time we'll send out reminders and e-announcements to our mailing list to keep you informed of the latest news about the Plaza Classic.

Absolutely, and we can help coordinate group ticket sales. Just call The El Paso Community Foundation for assistance (see the Contact page) or you can buy tickets at the Plaza's Box Office.

Oh yeah. Feel free to explore the entire range of seating options in the Plaza Theatre, including the balcony. We'd suggest you sit in different seats for each feature presentation so you can check out the wide range of "perspectives" the Plaza offers. The Screen is huge so you'll get quite a view wherever you sit. Experiment.

It's 44 feet wide! It's also mounted on an armature so we can store it, intact, in the Plaza's huge fly loft.

Because ... while ten days and over 70 titles seems like a lot of time and space to play all our favorite films - it's not. We started with a list of several hundred "must-see" titles and had to narrow it down to what you see scheduled. We think we've done a pretty good job of programming a diverse list of important and classic films, but there's still plenty of great titles for next year (and the year after, and the year after ...)

Some did, some didn't, and some we just don't know. A complete list of all the films that played at The Plaza doesn't exist, but we're working on it. The Plaza closed in the mid-seventies (The Exorcist was the last first-run commercial film to play there) so anything after that couldn't have been seen there.

Nope, don't even think about bringing your five year old (... or your six, seven, eight...). As you'll see in the Schedule, there are a few adult-oriented features which are scheduled in earlier timeslots and for which minors are specifically excluded from attending. Late Show R-rated films will be monitored for compliance with standard MPAA rating guidelines.