Wildscreen Festival 2026
Be part of the world’s biggest global gathering of natural world storytellers!
Tickets
A variety of live and online passes are available to experience the Wildscreen Festival.
Live industry events take place in central Bath, UK from Monday 19th – Wednesday 21st October.
On Thursday 22nd October, curated 1-1 meetings, workshops and masterclasses will take place around Bristol and Bath at various locations.
The Wildscreen Panda Awards Ceremony will take place in Bath on the evening of Thursday 22nd October – tickets are sold separately.
Venue
We’re thrilled to announce that this year the Festival is being held at Apex Hotel in central Bath. Apex is a 4-star hotel is just a stone’s throw away from the city’s top sights and is the perfect place to base yourself for the week!
Hotel Apex are also kindly providing a 10% discount for room bookings during the week of the Festival. Your code will be included in your ticket confirmation details.
[10% off on the hotels best available rate at time of booking when booked directly with the hotel]
About the Festival
The Wildscreen Festival was first held in 1982, in Bristol, UK. It was founded by Sir Peter Scott and Christopher Parsons OBE, former Head of the BBC Natural History Unit. Today, as always, it brings together industry thought leaders, emerging talent and the most exciting, innovative voices in natural world storytelling.
In 2024, the Wildscreen Festival welcomed over 1,500 hybrid delegates from +60 countries around the world.
If you’re joining us for the 2026 Wildscreen Festival, you can expect 100+ sessions & masterclasses, 150+ speakers, 50+ films, plus curated 1-1 meetings with decision makers. You’ll also have the chance to meet people from the industry at our networking events. Companies who have attended in the past include Netflix, BBC Studios, National Geographic, Love Nature and NHK.
Programme
From industry thought-leaders and celebrities, to award-winning filmmakers, photographers, NGOs and high-end kit and camera companies, Wildscreen Festival boasts an unmissable programme of events.
Check out the incredible line up we had for Wildscreen Festival 2024 below!
Official Selection
The Official Selection competition is an innovative platform for new talent and underrepresented voices in the natural world storytelling industry.
Panda Awards
The globally acclaimed Panda Awards, the ‘Green Oscars’ of the international wildlife film and TV industry, have sat at the heart of the Wildscreen Festival since 1982.
They celebrate the very best in the natural world storytelling craft, and remain the highest honour in the industry.
Volunteer
Bursaries
Our Bursary Scheme aims to nurture talent in the Wildlife Film and TV industry by providing full and part funded access to Wildscreen Festival 2026.
All applicants will be updated on the outcome of their submission by early August 2026.
Bursary applications are now closed.
Festival Info
Got a question? Check out our FAQs section.
Get discounts on your stay in Bath
If you’re staying in Bath for the Festival, check out these hotels for exclusive discounted room rates. Details of how to access these rates will be in your delegate ticket confirmation email.
- Z hotels (bookings include complimentary cheese and wine every night)
- The Bird, Bath (discount for stays between 2 and 4 nights)
- Dukes Hotel (discount for stays between 2 and 4 nights)
- Harrington Hotels
- DoubleTree by Hilton Bath (discount available on dates 19-21 October 2026)
- Abbey Hotels
- Hotel Indigo
Join our mailing list
Keep up to date with all the Festival updates and be the first to know about other exciting events at Wildscreen!
World-leading International Festival
Wildscreen Festival is our world-leading international festival which celebrates and advances natural world storytelling. The festival focuses on four key elements:
Craft
Storytelling, Developing Technologies and Techniques
Industry
Networking, Collaborating, Trends, Sustainability, Future Audiences
Global Voices
Talent, EDI, Indigenous Communities
Planetary Crisis
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Social Injustice
Meet The Artist
For the 2026 Wildscreen Festival, we worked with Evie Grace Illustration & Design to create a brand new design concept for the festival. Evie is an award-winning Scottish illustrator and designer based in Bristol. Rooted in a deep love for the natural world, Evie creates purposeful, narrative-led illustrations that inspire connection, encourage conversation, and advocate for positive change. See more of Evie’s work here.
Creative design agency, SomethingFamiliar, helped us turn this new concept into a strong, visual toolkit that we’re now able to use across all marketing for the festival. SomethingFamiliar very generously supported Wildscreen on a voluntary basis as part of their commitment to supporting charities within the 1% for the Planet network.
A huge thank you to both Evie and the SomethingFamiliar team for all their guidance, creativity and support throughout this project.
Kit Show
Meet the world’s leading providers of natural history kit to hear about their latest products and expert insights.
Wildscreen 2024 saw the return of our iconic kit show, dedicated to showcasing the companies and technology at the cutting edge of natural world storytelling.
Check out the full list of exhibitors.
2024 Festival Report
In its 42nd year, Wildscreen Festival 2024 saw 2055 delegates come togeather from 62 countries around the world.
With an increase in the breath and depth of subjects and themes covered in the programme and more speakers than ever before, the festival proved to be our largest yet.
“To everyone who came, thank you for being part of our family and this amazing community. We can’t wait to follow your journey.” – Lucie Muir, Wildcreen CEO
Explore the full festival report below to find out more.
Community Content Proposal
This year we are opening up our programming to our community.
This is an opportunity to propose to the Wildscreen team and Festival Advisory Board, a session addressing a topic or showcasing work that hasn’t yet been done, or could be done in a new and innovative way.
There is one slot in the Festival programme available for community-driven content. Options include:
- Panels: a diverse and candid discussion around a specific topic (4 speakers maximum incl. moderator). 1 hour long
- Masterclasses: practical take-away session providing insight to a technique or craft (3 speakers maximum incl. moderator). 1 hour long
- Alternative sessions: a space for outside of the box sessions. Examples of content could include: lightening talks or content based around a central theme; spoken word; an immersive audience experience. Alternative sessions should be 30 minutes long max.
WildPitch
Whether you are a producer, cinematographer, presenter or scientist, WildPitch is open to all with a story to tell about our natural world, its beauty and its fragility.
Nine individuals (or teams) each had 3 minutes to pitch their nature-centred film idea to a jury of leading commissioners and senior executives, in front of a live audience at Wildscreen Festival 2024.
The three most original and exciting projects won a cash prize of $8,000.
Post-Festival Online Passes
Our Online Pass gives you post-festival access to our delegate app, allowing you to catch up and watch back live streams of dozens of sessions from this year’s festival including Headliners, Masterclasses, Decision Maker Clinics and more!
PLUS access our full film library of this year’s Official Selection and Panda Award Nominees. That’s over 60 natural history films and episodes at your fingertips!
Tickets start at just £25!
Global Hubs
Wildscreen introduced Festival Global Hubs in 2022 which offer the opportunity for storytellers and change makers based in global natural history content hotspots to be part of the Festival.
Headline Festival Sponsor, BBC Studios Natural History Unit, supported the Nairobi hub, Principal Sponsor Save our Seas Foundation supported the Cape Town edition, with our final hub based in Bangalore, India, supported by Felis Creations.