tiff tickets 2022

Ticket sales for Toronto's TIFF 2022 are a complete mess and people are rightfully angered

The 2022 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival was supposed to be a momentous celebration, with the return of many in-person events, red carpets and screenings since 2019.

But as many festival goers found out last week, it was almost impossible to secure advance tickets.

If you were planning on seeing some highly-acclaimed films this year, chances are you weren't coming close to any screen except your cellphone.

Take a look at the comments on TIFF’s Press & Industry or Customer Relations Twitter and you'll see scores of angry customers complaining about the purchasing process.

Many quickly logged on to the TIFF website to grab their tickets, only to be met with a message saying "events are currently off-sale."

TIFF insiders also confirmed they had yet to receive their promo code to allow them access to any kind of ticket.

Glenn Sumi, of NOW Toronto, was one of those people patiently waiting to get anything. He took to Twitter to share he had been trying for hours to book media passes.

Entertainment personality Teri Hart also had a painfully terrible time of trying to secure her tickets, saying she was on hold with customer service for more than two hours.

These are just two of countless similiar experiences with the TIFF website and process. 

But what exactly went wrong? Was there a glitch on TIFF's part? Were too many people trying to get tickets at once, causing the site to crash?

When blogTO asked TIFF's communications team exactly what happened, they did not give us a straight answer.

Instead, I was pointed to a newly released statement on the Press & Industry account, which said; "we acknowledge that some press and industry guests have had issues checking out their advance tickets."

With their attempt to remedy this drama, TIFF developed a "new solution" by using vouchers "for those still trying to book their tickets."

The tweet was followed by instructions on how to use this voucher, a full eight steps.

Festival-goers who still cannot access the webpage can ring the Call Centre.

Comments underneath this announcement showed that despite this update and new process, the website wasn't allowing participants to secure tickets.

With just 48 hours until the festival's kick0ff, it seems countless fans may not be able to attend. 

Moral of the story? Count yourself extremely lucky if you were able to get tickets for yourself this year. 

Lead photo by

Toronto International Film Festival


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