TIFF website crashes after official 2024 schedule released

The 49th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival returns to town from September 5 to 15, 2024, and an official schedule of this year's festivities was released on Tuesday, drawing in enough traffic to crash the TIFF website.

Tuesday's reveal of the TIFF '24 programming lineup and schedule was met with a surge in traffic to the festival website as the public clamoured to get a glimpse of the galas, special presentations, and total of 278 films that will be screened at this year's event — including 20 additional titles in Official Selection.

In the wake of Tuesday's announcement, many social media users reported issues connecting with the TIFF website.

LMAO NOT THE TIFF WEBSITE CRASHING.

That I will not miss, the pain of trying to get tickets and nothing working. #tiff24

— arianne (they/them) (@binettea93) August 13, 2024

Frustrated masses impatiently clicked onto the TIFF website hoping to get a glimpse at the event schedule, only to be met with error screens or loading icons.

Hey @TIFF_NET, your website has an ERROR, let me in, I want to review the #TIFF24 schedule. Let me in. pic.twitter.com/nTdwUFz0i4

— Simone Cromer 🎥 (@TheatreofZen) August 13, 2024

Film fans tagged event organizers waiting for a resolution, or just vented their feelings on the outage.

Damn the TIFF website got 504-erd 😭😭

— Jack 🔜 #TIFF24 (@swervemaster16) August 13, 2024

As of 11 a.m. on Tuesday, the TIFF site is partially back online but still experiencing issues loading content.

Organizers took to social media, stating that "Due to an increase in traffic to our site, we are currently experiencing technical difficulties. We are working to resolve this quickly and thank you in advance for your patience."

Tickets for TIFF '24 will officially go on sale to TIFF Members starting this Friday, August 16.

This will mark the festival's first year under new sponsorship from telecom giant Rogers, after previous sponsor Bell pulled out from a long-time naming rights agreement with the festival and its home base of the TIFF (formerly Bell) Lightbox.