One of the hottest nights of the year in Hollywood is the Academy Awards, and it’s only fitting for the Breckenridge Film Festival to celebrate the prestigious awards with a viewing party. On Feb. 28 at 5:30 p.m., guests of the festival will walk the red carpet, snap photos for the paparazzi and enjoy a wine and beer cocktail party in the Speakeasy Movie Theater at Breckenridge Grand Vacations Community Center community rooms.

The Feb. 28 Hollywood & Wine: A Night on the Red Carpet event will be the festival’s annual fundraiser in 2016. The Hollywood & Wine event has historically been held in June each year, but festival leadership felt moving it to February not only made sense to align with the Academy Awards, but also to move away from the hotly contested start of summer for fellow nonprofit fundraisers and summer kick-off events.

“This makes sense for the festival and for the community,” said festival executive director Janice Kurbjun in a statement. “Moving to February will relieve some pressure on us and others to coordinate schedules. It will alleviate some of the stress for the community wanting to support many of us. Additionally, it just makes sense because we’re a film festival, and the Academy Awards are the biggest awards show in the industry.”

The event has more in store than the Academy Awards lustre, though. It’s a red carpet evening of fine wines and local beers, food and a silent auction featuring goods and services straight from the Summit County business community and beyond. Featured silent auction items include experiences such as an in-home dinner for eight by Park & Main chef Kim Nuzum, a trip for two to Napa Valley, seating for four at the April 1 Colorado Avalanche game, a VIP Red Carpet package to the Denver Film Festival and a rafting trip down Brown’s Canyon with AVA Rafting. It also features entertainment with Summit County’s arts nonprofits, shopping and dining opportunities across the county, jewelry and home goods such as a Wolf High Performance Blender donated by Kitchenscapes and Roth Living.

Guests wanting to participate in the Academy Awards voting poll can do so by purchasing a ballot with their ticket purchase (due by 6:30 p.m. the night of the event). There will also be a chance to win a dinner for four with chef Ian Buchanan.

New this year is the opportunity to sign up for the Breckenridge Film Festival’s all-new Gold Ticket Club. This group will provide sustainable financial support to the festival through a special donor group, enabling the organization to expand its offerings to include premium events and educational programs beyond the four days of the festival. Those interested can take advantage of introductory pricing at the Hollywood & Wine event — which includes a chance to win a basket of wine donated by the board of directors — and first access to a year-round lineup of community programming, including exclusive events for Gold Ticket Club members.

During the Feb. 28 event, the festival will raise funds to pursue its mission of presenting year-round and festival-specific programming that provides important interactive opportunities to engage over diverse statements, perspectives and stories as shown through the mechanism known as the motion picture. In particular, the festival seeks funds to expand its youth and community engagement and education through special partner projects within the community.

Advance individual tickets and Couples Night Out packages — which features four tickets at a discount — are available for purchase via breckfilmfest.com.