From March 24 to 28, 2026, the Society for Arts and Technology [SAT] presents SAT Fest 2026, its biennial celebration of cinema at the SAT's iconic immersive dome on Saint-Laurent. One of the few festivals in the world dedicated entirely to this format, 52 short films from 14 countries will be projected over five days across the 360-degree ceiling of the Satosphere, creating a fulldome experience that puts audiences inside the works they watch.
Dating back to 2012, each year brings with it a greater refinement of the format. 2026 is no exception as it brings a mix of narrative works, abstract pieces, and full sensory overload together: films from Zimbabwe, the forests of Alsace, the coastlines of Mauritius and Qatar (both appearing at SAT Fest for the first time) are presented alongside returning artists like Ari Dykier, Lynn Tomlinson, and Sergey Prokofyev, all former award recipients making their way back to the Satosphere.
The film festival that knows no walls
The opening night on March 24 kicks things off with a cocktail, two opening films (Reality Looks Back by Anne Jeppesen & Omid Zarei; Recoding Entropia by François Vautier), and a Fulldome Meetup presented by Ubisoft, where the Satosphere switches to open jam mode, allowing participants to test their projects directly in the dome.
Running parallel to the screenings is SAT Fest Pro, the festival's professional program, now expanded to three full days. March 25 focuses on tools and expertise in immersive creation, including the panel Teaching immersive creation, presented by SYNTHÈSE; March 26 digs into co-creation and adaptation in the age of generative art including the workshop Dome creation and interactivity, presented by TouchDesigner; March 27 maps out the broader fulldome industry ecosystem, including a duplex conference with Paris's Festival Sous dôme at the Cité des sciences et de l'industrie.
New this year is Petit SAT Fest. Easily ranking among the most interesting things you can do with a kid on a Saturday afternoon in Montreal, the family program on March 28 offers immersive short films and a hands-on animation workshop.
The whole thing closes with an awards ceremony, a screening of the SAT Fest 2024 winning compilation (Protist Rhapsody, FEED, Dream, Inner Island, Ignite!, and Dancing with Dead Animals), and an Off-Dômesicle party that runs until 3 AM, featuring a 100% Montreal lineup including the live project Ostr-size, fusing Simon Sizer and Ostrich, Lather Rinse Repeat and OJPB with drum and bass, deep house, and UK grooves.
Beyond the festival
But if you can't make it to the festival week itself, there's a good reason to pay attention to what happens next.
From March 31 to April 29, 2026, the SAT presents a compilation of the award-winning films from SAT Fest 2026: six immersive short films selected from this edition's most striking and ambitious works, screening in the Satosphere through the end of spring.
It's the best way to experience fulldome cinema on your own timeline if you’re unable to commit to a festival pass or want to experience films beyond the festival. Be it your first time lying back in the dome or your tenth, this is what the format was built for: works chosen because they earned it, shown in the space they were made for. SAT Fest is how the best of the current moment gets its due.
The Satosphere has hosted nearly 500 immersive films and over 300 artists since its 2011 inauguration, and it was built for exactly this. As the first permanent immersive theatre in the world entirely dedicated to artistic creation and presentation, it places audiences at the centre of the work rather than in front of a screen.
At 18 metres wide and 11.5 metres high, with eight 4K projectors running at 34,000 lumens each and 93.5 speakers wrapping the space in precisely spatialized sound, it's one of the most technically advanced audiovisual environments in the city.
Tickets run from $15 for Petit SAT Fest to $35 for a single evening screening, $40 for a single Pro day, and; Off Domesicle tickets go for $25., For the Compilation of award-winning films, regular tickets are $21 and $16,80 for Students / Groups 4 + / 65+ (+tx and fees) Tickets are available via the SAT.
