How to Watch the 2026 Oscars: From Streaming to Bay Area Watch Parties

Hollywood’s biggest night, the 98th Academy Awards, is happening on Sunday.

The 2026 Oscars race has been a particularly unpredictable one, and many in the Bay Area will likely be rooting for Sinners, directed by Oakland’s own Ryan Coogler.

Sinners broke records with 16 Oscar nominations, including best picture, best directing and actor categories. You can find the full list of nominees on the Academy website.

Returning as host for a second year is Conan O’Brien, who also has an acting role in the Oscar-nominated movie If I Had Legs I’d Kick You as a therapist, which you can expect him to make at least one joke about on the night.

If you’re hoping to watch the Oscars live this weekend, keep reading for where to stream this year’s awards show, ideas on hosting your own screening for friends and where to find Oscars watch parties in the Bay Area.

When do the 2026 Oscars start?

The 98th Academy Awards ceremony will air on Sunday at 4 p.m. PDT. (7 p.m. EDT.)

The official red carpet coverage, hosted by Amelia Dimoldenberg of “Chicken Shop Date” fame, starts around 3:30 p.m. PDT (6:30 p.m. EDT).

Where can I watch the Oscars on streaming?

You can watch the Academy Awards ceremony on your local ABC station.

If you’re a Hulu subscriber, you can also stream the Oscars award show live through the Hulu app on Sunday, “no matter which subscription you have,” according to the service.

Hulu says that starting Monday, subscribers can also stream the entire ceremony on demand.

Not a Hulu subscriber? You could try out a trial of live TV like YouTube TV and Fubo TV to watch the Oscars.

Where are the Oscar watch parties in the Bay Area?

A host of local movie theaters, bars and restaurants are holding their own Oscars watch parties. Note: Many of them are in San Francisco and will also require a ticket.

For some of these events, there’ll be performances, contests for the best-dressed guest or the most accurate ballot and even a red carpet for a grand entrance.

Just be sure to check when doors open for your particular event, since the party may start well before the actual Oscars ceremony does at 4 p.m. PDT.

Bay Area Oscars watch parties in San Francisco include:

• The Roxie
• The Knockout
• Manny’s
• The Function SF
• Moby Dick
• Balboa Theater
• Mission Cannibas Club
• Question Mark Bar
• Splash Sports Bar
• Presidio Theater
• Landmark Opera Plaza Cinema
• The Cafe, including performances and a ball
• Fluid510, a dance party celebrating the four Oscar nominations for The Secret Agent from Brazil.

Oscars watch parties elsewhere in the Bay Area include:

• The New Parkway in Oakland
• Golden Ratio in Oakland
• Alameda Theater in Alameda
• Cinelounge in Tiburon
• Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael
• The Lark Theater in Larkspur
• Mountain Mike’s Pizza in Menlo Park
• Woodhouse Blending & Brewing in Santa Cruz.

How can I host my own Oscars watch party?

If you’re thinking of throwing an Oscars party, KQED has a thorough guide on how to be the perfect host, covering everything from invites, food and music to getting your friends to actually show up.

NPR has compiled a very silly, pun-filled guide to movie-themed menu ideas for your Oscars watch party, including what they call a “Marty Crunchwrap Supreme” (a Crunchwrap Supreme from Taco Bell but cut into skinny slices) and a “Bugonion” (basically, a Bloomin’ Onion). If you host your own watch party, be sure to print out Oscars ballots for people to fill out.

The movie-based social platform Letterboxd even has ballot PDFs available online for printing. You can inject even more excitement into the night by providing awards for people with the best (or worst) ballot.

Some personal Oscars watch party tips from this reporter:

• Dress codes are a perfect fit for an Oscars party, and you might borrow a tip from a friend of mine who this year is calling on guests to wear an outfit from their favorite snubbed-by-the-Oscars film of the year.
• Make sure attendees fill out their ballots before the show starts, and don’t let people change their answers depending on how the night is going, as I accidentally did in 2024 — highly dishonorable behavior, in my opinion.
• In my experience, guests will truly take their ballots seriously once they realize that prizes — in my case, Alamo Drafthouse merchandise — are on the line.

But overall, it’s my opinion that the 2026 Oscars season has gone on for far too long, especially after the Academy had the gall to snub No Other Choice. And I just hope the Timothée Chalamet discourse will be wrapped up by Monday.

Where can I watch the nominated movies?

If you are hoping to do some serious catching up before Sunday, you can find the full list of nominees on the Academy website and attempt to watch them all before the show (good luck if so). Vulture also has a comprehensive list of where to stream every Oscar-nominated movie.

In the lead-up to the award show (and even after), your local theater may be screening some Oscar-nominated films, including ones that are harder to find on streaming.

For example, The Roxie in San Francisco is showing screenings of Sirât on March 17, nominated for Best International Feature Film. The New Parkway Theater in Oakland is showing the nominees for both animated and live-action short films, as is the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael.

The spring series from ProxySF, an outdoor screen in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley, features several Oscar-nominated films in its lineup and is completely free. There will be showings of Marty Supreme on March 27, Sentimental Value on April 10 and the animated film Arco on April 24.