Little Blue Film Festival Debuts Oct. 16–17 with 50 Films and Special Hastings Screening
(HASTINGS, Neb.) — The inaugural Little Blue Film Festival will bring filmmakers, audiences, and film lovers together in downtown Hastings on October 16–17, 2026, for two days of independent film, special events, and community celebration at The Lark Downtown. More than 2,000 films were submitted from around the world. Just 50 were selected.
Presented by the Hastings Community Arts Council, the festival will showcase selected short films, student films, animations, documentaries and feature films while bringing filmmakers and audiences together.
“For our first year, we wanted Little Blue to be more than a place to watch movies,” Festival Director Jarod Rogers said. “We wanted to create a place where filmmakers and audiences could meet, talk about their work, and experience how movies can connect people and communities.”
That idea will take center stage Saturday with two special festival events. The festival will feature a screening of Lucky You, directed by Hastings native Colin Sandall. Produced in Hastings, the film gives festival audiences an opportunity to see locally connected filmmaking on the same screen as selections from filmmakers around the world.
Members of Brickline Motion Pictures of Lincoln will also lead a filmmaking roundtable exploring filmmaking as a community-building art form and the ways films, filmmakers and local creative communities can bring people together.
The weekend begins Friday evening with a welcome reception featuring hors d'oeuvres from Hastings Cheese and Wine Shop, with The Lark Bar open during the event. Screenings and festival programming continue throughout Saturday.
Event Dates: October 16-17, 2026 | Welcome Reception, October 16 begins at 6:00 PM
Location: The Historic Lark Downtown, 809 W. 2nd Street, Hastings, Nebraska
Admission: Free and open to the public
Festival schedules, official selections, and additional information are available at www.hastingsartscouncil.org/little-blue.