Toronto International Film Festival · September
Chauffeur service for TIFF, the Toronto International Film Festival
Eleven days of screenings, meetings and late nights within a few blocks of King Street West, and a car that keeps up with them.
Reserve festival carsFor eleven days each September the Toronto International Film Festival fills the Entertainment District, and for the people working it, the schedule is the difficulty: a screening at one theatre, a meeting at a hotel, a dinner across town, another screening at ten. Maplebridge provides the car and the chauffeur that hold that schedule together.
The festival is presented by TIFF, a not-for-profit cultural organization. Its 51st edition ran from September 10 to 20, 2026, and TIFF has announced the 52nd for September 9 to 19, 2027. If you are coming as a filmmaker, a distributor, a journalist or simply an audience member with a full list of tickets, the booking is the same: vehicles reserved in advance, at fares fixed in Canadian dollars, with no surge pricing on the busiest nights of the city's year.
The festival's venues
The public festival is concentrated in five buildings, four of them within a short walk of each other.
- TIFF Lightbox, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West, on the north-west corner of King and John Streets. TIFF's own building, with five cinemas. St. Andrew subway station is a 450-metre walk.
- Princess of Wales Theatre, 300 King Street West.
- Royal Alexandra Theatre, 260 King Street West.
- Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe Street, home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
- Scotiabank Theatre Toronto, 259 Richmond Street West, a few blocks north.
The cinema is called TIFF Lightbox. Older listings, and some theatre websites, still say TIFF Bell Lightbox, a name that ended in 2023.
Festival Street, and where a car can stop
The opening days are different from the rest. In 2026, TIFF's own guidance read: King Street West between Peter Street and University Avenue is closed September 10 to 13 for Festival Street, and public transit is highly recommended. That stretch runs past the front doors of TIFF Lightbox, the Princess of Wales and the Royal Alexandra. While it is closed, no car reaches those doors.
What a chauffeur does instead is set down on the nearest open cross street and collect from an agreed corner. TIFF listed accessible drop-off points for 2026 on the streets around the closure: Wellington Street West at John Street, 106 John Street for TIFF Lightbox and the Princess of Wales, 14 Duncan Street for the Royal Alexandra, and Richmond Street West for the Scotiabank Theatre. Outside the closure days, the two King Street theatres direct cars to the signed pick-up and drop-off spaces on King Street West between Simcoe and John Streets.
The 2027 arrangements have not been published. We will plan around TIFF's guidance when it appears; until then, treat the 2026 pattern as the likely one and expect a short walk during the opening weekend.
How people book for the festival
A car for the day
Hourly, as-directed service is the booking that suits a festival day. You reserve the vehicle for a block of hours, two at the least, and it stays: outside the hotel, around the corner from the theatre, at the restaurant. Each booked hour includes 40 km, which in the downtown core is more than a day of short hops will use. When a screening starts late or a conversation runs on, the chauffeur waits. Hours beyond the booking are added in fifteen-minute increments at the hourly rate for the class, as clause 4.3 of our Terms sets out.
A single premiere
For one evening with a known end, two transfers will do: one to the theatre, one home. The second is booked for a time, with 15 minutes of waiting included from that time and by-the-minute waiting after it under clause 4.2. Nobody waits in between, so if the question-and-answer session might run long, book by the hour instead.
Arrivals
Guests flying in are met at Toronto Pearson or at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, which is on the waterfront a few minutes from the festival's theatres. The flight number goes on the booking, dispatch checks the arrival, and 60 minutes of complimentary waiting run from landing. See Toronto Pearson and Billy Bishop for how each pickup works.
For a company or a delegation
A sales company, a studio or a national delegation may need several vehicles for the length of the festival. Send us the dates, the hotel, the people and their flights; dispatch builds the running order with you, assigns chauffeurs, and gives you one point of contact for the eleven days. First Class sedans, Executive Van / SUVs and Executive Sprinters are all described on the fleet page, and planning for larger programmes is on the corporate events page.
More on the city on the Toronto page, and on other evenings out on the concert transportation page.
Maplebridge is not affiliated with TIFF, the Toronto International Film Festival, or the venues named on this page. The festival's name is used only to describe the event our customers attend. Dates, venues and street closures are as published by TIFF and the venues in October 2026.
Questions about cars during the festival
When is the next Toronto International Film Festival?
TIFF has announced that the 52nd edition of the festival will take place from September 9 to 19, 2027. The 51st ran from September 10 to 20, 2026.
Can a car pull up at the door of TIFF Lightbox during the festival?
Not on the opening days, if 2027 follows 2026. In 2026 King Street West was closed between Peter Street and University Avenue from September 10 to 13 for Festival Street, which takes in TIFF Lightbox, the Princess of Wales Theatre and the Royal Alexandra Theatre. On those days the chauffeur sets you down on the nearest open street and you walk the last block.
Should we book by the hour or trip by trip?
By the hour for a day with several screenings or appointments: the car stays with you, two hours minimum, 40 km included per hour. Trip by trip for a single premiere with a firm end time. A festival evening rarely ends on time, which is the case for hourly.
Can you collect a guest from the airport and stay with them?
Yes. Book the airport pickup with the flight number, and an hourly booking from the hotel for the days that follow. At Toronto Pearson and Billy Bishop the chauffeur meets the guest at the arrivals curb with a name sign, or inside the terminal on request at an extra charge.
Which vehicle for a premiere?
First Class, a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Mercedes-Maybach S-Class or BMW 7 Series, seats up to three and is the car for an arrival. An Executive Van / SUV seats up to five, and an Executive Sprinter moves a team of six to fourteen by the hour.
Is Maplebridge an official TIFF partner or supplier?
No. Maplebridge is an independent chauffeur company and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by TIFF, the Toronto International Film Festival or any venue named on this page.
How late can we be collected?
At any hour. Bookings are pre-arranged for the time you choose, and dispatch answers the phone 24 hours a day on +1 (888) 627-5313 if the evening changes.