Cold Snap Film Festival

Submissions open until October 1, 2024. Click here to learn more and submit on Film Freeway!

Welcome to the Cold Snap Film Festival -- an event 15 years in the making. We're thrilled to host this event and are excited to see your compelling stories about experiences outside. Our goal is for the films to celebrate nature and human-powered adventures with a twist of environmental justice and inclusivity in the outdoors.

While Cold Snap is about bringing art to southwest Montana, it’s also about celebrating – we throw a great party – and, as important, raising funds for those less fortunate in our community. Cold Snap will kick off with a screening of the films on the Thursday before Thanksgiving at our local theater here in Livingston, Montana - the Empire Twin Theaters. Then the following evening, we’ll host a party where we’ll raise crucial funds via a raffle and silent auction. For more context, refer to our website for an in-depth history regarding our similar efforts over the past 15 years.

Thank you for considering Cold Snap as a venue for showcasing your work. We’re honored at the prospect of partnering with you in this endeavor.

An Event 15 years in the making

The history of the Cold Snap Film Festival goes back to a group of ski bums who just wanted to hang out and watch ski films. That was over 15 years ago, and started at the Elks Lodge here in Livingston.

Each year the event has gotten a little bit bigger and made a little bit more impact in our community. Dan Bailey's co-owner Dale Sexton has a passion for this incredible place we call home. Since the inception of the event we've raised money for our local soup kitchen, Loaves and Fishes. They're open every day of the year, serving hot meals to those who need it.

Our "backcountry film festival" event grew to include a silent auction, robust raffles, and a giant party. Every year, we took part in the excellent Backcountry Film Festival from Winter Wildlands Alliance. We quickly outgrew the Elks Lodge and moved to the Livingston Depot Center. This is hands down our favorite event of the entire year, and we love seeing our community come together, rally around a good cause and have a great time doing it.

Last year, we expanded the event to two nights and renamed it the Pray For Snow Celebration. Instead of showing films on a small screen in a loud room, we packed our local theater here in Downtown Livingston - the Empire Twin Theater. The next night was an incredible party and we raised a staggering amount of over $37,000 for Loaves and Fishes!

The success of the new format brought an old question back to the forefront - why not hold our own film festival? The idea was tossed around a decade ago, and we realized that there is no time like the present.