Ebertfest May Be Celebrating Its ‘Last Dance,’ but ‘It’s Not the End’ of the Beloved Festival

George Jiglea

Chaz Ebert and filmmakers attending the final edition of Ebertfest in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois this week share what makes the festival so unique. About 25 years ago, “Ebert & Roeper” held its “ Film Festival at Sea, ” a Disney Cruise that featured film critics Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper hosting a film festival aboard a four-day trip to the Bahamas (an insane sentence to write in 2026). Attending that inaugural festival was then-teenage Jeff Horowitz who, after that cruise, would make an