The UK’s cut-price cinema day returned in 2026, a year after it was shelved, and it came back twice the length. Under the new name National Cinema Weekend, it ran on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September. The Film Distributors’ Association put tickets at £4 in the UK and €4 in the Republic of Ireland.

Rows of 4DX motion seats in an empty cinema auditorium, facing the screen.
Image: Wolfmann more
4DX seats at Kilden kino in Tønsberg, Norway.Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0

Why there was no cinema day in 2025

Cinema First, the cross-industry body behind the event, paused it for 2025. A spokesperson told Screen that admissions were growing and the release slate for the rest of that year was unusually busy. The same statement said a changed format was under consideration for 2026.

Not everyone in the trade was sold on the idea. Screen reported some wariness about cheap tickets cutting the takings of popular films, though it said most exhibition and distribution executives backed the event.

How the single day performed

The modern version began in 2022. Its model was an earlier National Cinema Day in June 1996, when attendances were falling and tickets cost one pound.

The UK Cinema Association says the 2022 day drew 1.46 million admissions, rising to 1.56 million in 2023. Screen gives a higher 2023 figure of 1.7 million, across more than 700 cinemas. Neither source explains the gap. The 2024 day, on August 31, passed one million admissions at 630 venues with £4 tickets, according to Screen.

What the second day adds

Phil Clapp, chief executive of the UK Cinema Association and a director of Cinema First, said a full weekend lets people plan their visits more freely and see a wider range of films. The Film Distributors’ Association compares the longer format to multi-day events abroad, naming Fiesta del Cine in Spain and La Fête du Cinéma in France.

Counts of taking part differed. The UK Cinema Association announced more than 540 UK cinemas on 2026-08-30 and expected more to sign up. The Film Distributors’ Association, on the same date, said over 600 across the UK and Ireland.

The association also said admissions and box office were heading for the sector’s best full year since 2019. Whether the weekend beats the old single day’s numbers is the next figure to watch. Cinemas listed their screenings at cinemaweekender.com in the UK and cinemaweekend.ie in Ireland.