The Banff Mountain Film Festival world tour is coming to Sandpoint’s Panida Theater for three separate nights, starting Friday, Jan. 17 and continuing Saturday, Jan. 18, and Sunday, Jan. 19.

Doors open at 6 p.m. with films beginning at 7 p.m. for the Friday and Saturday night shows. Sunday, doors open at 5 p.m. with films starting at 6 p.m. Tickets are available in Sandpoint at Eichardt’s, The Alpine Shop, Burger Express and The Outdoor Experience. Tickets are also available in Bonners Ferry at the Burger Express. Online tickets can be purchased on the Panida Theater website at panida.org . Any tickets left will be sold at the door.

Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 at the door. This year, 26 films will be shown over the three nights and showcase a full line-up of diverse mountain culture, travel, sport and human interest.

A portion of the proceeds from the event will go to support the locally operated program, North Idaho Mountain Sports Education Fund, which is giving the ability for 70-plus local kids to ski at Schweitzer Mountain with lessons, ski gear and lift tickets. Jeff Rouleau from NIMSEF will be on hand to handle their raffle prizes at the Panida Theater the night of the shows that goes to help support this program.

A widely diverse program best describes this year’s films with “Into The Canyon”, where Pete McBride and Kevin Fedarko tell their story of extreme physical hardship where the bonds of friendship are stretched as wide as the timeless beauty of the Grand Canyon. The strongest animation in years comes to the screen in “Hors Piste”, where the two best mountain rescue workers of the region are ready and set for their new mission … so watch out! Trevor, the ultimate recycler in the film “Camel Finds Water” discovers a wornout hull of an abandoned fishing boat — in a field no less and brings it back to life for an adventure on its maiden voyage to British Columbia. The goal? Find remote surfing waves. In a nod to Peruvian culture Julio Hancco is a guardian of biodiversity, critical to the survival of humanity with the potatoes that he works with. His film, “Opening the Earth: The Potato King” is an interesting take of the world where the simple past plays a major part in the face paced world we live in.

The Banff Mountain Film Festival is an inspiring international film competition featuring the world’s best footage on mountain subjects. The original festival which began in 1976 is held annually on the first weekend in November in Banff, Alberta. In 1986, the Banff Mountain Film Festival began an outreach program to bring the festival to other communities, touring to a total of three cities across Canada.

Information: Banff Mountain Film Festival, Michael Boge, mountainfever1@frontier.com or mountainfever.us; or North Idaho Mountain Sports Education Fund, Jeff Rouleau, nimsef@gmail.com or nimsef.com