Previewing the 8th Annual Traverse City Film Festival - Northern Michigan's News Leader

Starting tomorrow -- Traverse City will be the temporary movie Mecca of the Midwest.

The 8th Annual Traverse City Film Festival has sold more tickets, so far, than any other year.

It's not a surprise, considering there's more than 160 film screenings.

From a seat under the stars... to a historic movie house... and even an amateur theater, the venues -- and variety of films -- are seemingly endless.

But the real spectacle -- might be the audience.

"Part of the culture of this festival, I think, is standing in line. And when you stand in line, you meet people from all over the country. And share their stories about what they do, and things that they enjoy -- and that's a really rich part of the experience," said Linda Koebert, box office manager for the festival.

The film fans are doing more than just buying tickets.

Local businesses are anticipating some Hollywood-type foot traffic all week long.

Organizers say about 40 percent of the shows are sold out.

That means there's still plenty of open seats if you haven't bought a ticket yet.

9&10's Evan Dean and Photojournalist Jake Johnson spent the day downtown, and they have a festival preview.

For screening times, and to find out how you can get tickets, head to www.traversecityfilmfest.org/