Beyond Fest is heading to Chicago next year

Partnering with Chicago's famed Music Box Theater, Beyond Fest will descend upon the Windy City in April 2026.

By Matt Schimkowitz  |  November 5, 2025 | 11:00am
Film News Beyond Fest
Beyond Fest is heading to Chicago next year

Prepare to go Beyond, Chicago. Announced today, Beyond Fest is expanding to the Midwest and bringing the largest genre film festival in the U.S. to Chicago. In partnership with the Music Box Theatre, Beyond Fest Chicago will feature four days of “all-killer-no-filler” genre delights in the Windy City next April. Beyond Fest is promising to bring “what it does best” to the new locale: “high-energy premieres, stunning repertory screenings, iconic talent, and late-night discoveries.” The fest will run at the Music Box Theatre from April 2 through 5.

“Since inception, Beyond Fest has existed in service of film fans and filmmakers that are obsessively passionate about film,” said Christian Parkes, Beyond Fest founder. “This passion isn’t something that resides exclusively in Los Angeles; for decades, Music Box Theatre has fostered and entertained some of the best audiences in the world. It’s going to be electric, having our worlds collide.”

Additionally, and specifically for the filmmakers reading, Beyond Fest Chicago has opened submissions through FilmFreeway. The fest invites filmmakers from around the globe to submit, but is especially looking for the wildest, weirdest, and most uncompromising visions from Chicago, the Midwest, and the Great Lakes regions.

Beyond Fest has been running in Los Angeles since 2013, and has since become the highest-attended and most densely programmed genre film festival in the country. Most recently, in Los Angeles this past October, the Fest hosted more than 30,000 festivalgoers and screened 95 features, inviting the likes of Luca Guadagnino, Guillermo del Toro, Sean Baker, and Karyn Kusama to make the screenings even more exciting.

“The Music Box has always been a home for bold, visionary cinema,” said Music Box Theatre Owner, Brody Sheldon. “Partnering with Beyond Fest means bringing that energy to a new generation of filmmakers and fans — the ones who make this city’s film scene the loudest, smartest, and most passionate in the country.”

Find more information at beyondfest.com and musicboxtheater.com.

 
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