Madrid’s La Bombilla Park will once again become an open-air movie theater starting on June 26, when Fescinal kicks off its 42nd consecutive season . The festival, which has been running since 1984, is Spain’s most-attended summer film series, drawing more than 50,000 viewers each year. The program will run for 80 days , featuring more than 100 different films screened in two theaters.
Among the most unique offerings of this year’s festival are several silent film screenings accompanied by live music. Classics such as *The General’s Engine Man* and *Oh, My Mother* —by Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, respectively—as well as *The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari* and *The Adventures of Prince Ahmed* will be screened with musical accompaniment by pianist Ricardo Casas and the trio The Silent Entertainers.
The festival is also reviving the 35mm projection format with *The Sting* (1974), starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, using one of the historic projectors that were once used for traveling screenings in Spanish villages in the middle of the last century.
Spanish films followed by Q&A sessions will make up a significant portion of this year’s program. More than 15 screenings have been confirmed , featuring filmmakers and actors such as Juanma Bajo Ulloa, Antonia San Juan, Belén Fabra, Joaquín Mazón, Ana Wagener, and Carlos Iglesias, among others.
The lineup also includes children’s and family films—with titles such as Moana and Toy Story 5—recent releases like The Day of Revelation and The Devil Wears Prada 2, and films in their original language with Spanish subtitles, including Bugonia, Hamnet, and The Secret Agent.
The opening on June 26 will coincide with the launch of “La folclórica del siglo XXI,” a festival organized by La Juan Gallery that aims to reinterpret folk music from a contemporary perspective through free open-air festivals open to all audiences. Artist Rosalinda Galán will serve as master of ceremonies, and the jury will consist of content creator Orojondo, screenwriter and director Chus Gutiérrez, and documentary filmmaker Juan Sánchez. The pre-screening events will begin before the film, which starts at 8:00 p.m.
After holding two previous galas in Alcalá de Henares and Valdemorillo, the festival’s grand finale will take place at La Bombilla on July 16 at 8:00 p.m. That evening’s jury will consist of singer and set designer Blanca Paloma, journalist Valeria Vegas, and Lidia García, author of the podcast and book ¡Ay, campaneras!. The evening will conclude with a screening of Pedro Almodóvar’s *Volver*, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2026.
