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Drive In theaters making a comeback!


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https://www.wsfa.com/2020/05/18/drive-in-theaters-making-comeback-during-pandemic/?fbclid=IwAR2uyNDQ1qPldg8wGrhKqyL4e4GObyhLFEIQAmihCCudB0l8ooRVnuK5vMA

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Drive-in theaters making comeback during pandemic

 

 
May 18, 2020 at 10:12 AM CDT - Updated May 18 at 2:55 PM

STEPHENS CITY, Va. (CNN) – Even with the rain coming down, business has been up recently at the Family Drive-In Theatre.

“People are seeing it as a safe environment, a safe way to come out to see the movie,” said manager James Kopp.

With traditional cinemas and Hollywood itself reeling from lost income due to the coronavirus pandemic, drive-ins appear to be offering a rare and surging bright spot for the industry, and for fans weary of sheltering at home.

They started back in the early 1900s as an alternative to the stuffy, cramped conditions in some early theaters. They boomed in the 1950s and 1960s then fell into decades of decline.

But now that old idea suddenly seems new – and needed.

And it’s not just for movies. Country music star Keith Urban recently staged a tribute concert to health care workers at a drive-in, suggesting live entertainment may also find a home in the automotive amphitheaters.

At Kopp’s theater, moviegoers recently expressed their support for hospital staffers with a blast of horns. Then the light faded, the projector came alive, and for at least a little while, people sat apart but felt close.

 

“To me, it’s like, ‘Yes, oh my goodness!’ It’s like we’re back and we’re bringing the community back together – yes!” Kopp said. “The American drive-in theater rides again.”

The Family Drive-In Theatre is still practicing social distancing by telling people to stay apart, limiting the number of people who come in, and asking customers to make advanced reservations, but for a lot of people, it’s a good option for a night out after so many nights in.

 

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39 minutes ago, AuburnJen said:

Where there's a will there's a way...

 

North America’s first drive-in music festival will happen in Orlando this June

 

About a month after Germany’s World Club Dome held its first drive-in rave, which went viral on social media, American artists are taking a crack at it ― and Orlando’s Central Florida Fairgrounds will play host to the first one on June 6.

Orlando-based DJ and producer Carnage ― already a festival pro with his Rare fests here in the City Beautiful announced Road Rave on his Facebook on Thursday, “THE FIRST EVER NORTH AMERICAN FESTIVAL IN CORONA HISTORY!”
 
Road Rave’s lineup will feature Carnage, Riot Ten, Blunts & Blondes, Nitti Gritti and Gravedgr. The four-hour event in June will have “a full festival main stage production,” according to its press release. Road Rave is already garnering notice in international outlets like Pitchfork and NME.
 
In order to maintain social distancing precautions, there is a maximum capacity of 500 vehicles; a limit of six and a minimum of two passengers per vehicle. On-site food trucks will provide concessions and “roaming golf cart vendors” will take orders.

 

Festival attendees are encouraged to wear face masks and “social distancing will be heavily enforced with strict guidelines and restrictions on when attendees are allowed to safely leave their vehicle,” according to the event’s Facebook.

Carnage will also donate an unknown portion of money from the event to the ANF COVID-19 Relief Fund, which assists vulnerable communities in Nicaragua.

Tickets are available for purchase here, with the exception of VIP, starting at $50.
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We still have a drive-in movie theater near here - I think it's the last one in the state and one of only a handful in New England.  They play first run movies and we've been a bunch of times. The place is usually packed unless the weather is lousy. They reopened a week ago (reduced capacity so all cars are spread out) and sold out their first weekend in a flash. 

There's another in MA that's finally being allowed to reopen Monday.  They've had their pretty robust snack bar open for takeout for a while now. They're celebrating the reopen for movies with a midnight (ok 12:01) movie Sunday night and I'm expecting they'll sell out as soon as tickets go on sale. They're also gearing up to host outdoor socially-distanced events like graduations and weddings.

We have a music/performance venue nearby that pivoted quickly from having to cancel all their shows, to working with the town to get permission to turn their pretty large parking lot into an outdoor, drive-in performance spot.  They had their first shows last weekend and they all sold out.  They've just released a whole new schedule full of shows for the next couple of months and word is they've been contacted by acts all over the country asking to book there since there aren't any indoor venues available.

When life throws you a big ol' pandemic lemon, you get creative and make some newfangled lemonade.

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5 hours ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

We still have a drive-in movie theater near here - I think it's the last one in the state and one of only a handful in New England.  They play first run movies and we've been a bunch of times. The place is usually packed unless the weather is lousy. They reopened a week ago (reduced capacity so all cars are spread out) and sold out their first weekend in a flash. 

There's another in MA that's finally being allowed to reopen Monday.  They've had their pretty robust snack bar open for takeout for a while now. They're celebrating the reopen for movies with a midnight (ok 12:01) movie Sunday night and I'm expecting they'll sell out as soon as tickets go on sale. They're also gearing up to host outdoor socially-distanced events like graduations and weddings.

We have a music/performance venue nearby that pivoted quickly from having to cancel all their shows, to working with the town to get permission to turn their pretty large parking lot into an outdoor, drive-in performance spot.  They had their first shows last weekend and they all sold out.  They've just released a whole new schedule full of shows for the next couple of months and word is they've been contacted by acts all over the country asking to book there since there aren't any indoor venues available.

When life throws you a big ol' pandemic lemon, you get creative and make some newfangled lemonade.

Good old American ingenuity at work....

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19 hours ago, kadancer said:

Good old American ingenuity at work....

Indeed!

This is a huge Chinese restaurant up this way that's been around forever...

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The landmark Kowloon restaurant celebrates its 70th birthday this year, and owner Bob Wong says he hopes to add a drive-in movie theater and carhop service this summer, with servers on bicycles toting cocktails and food, classic flicks like “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “Grease,” and a doo-wop soundtrack to nail the throwback atmosphere.

 

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Yankee Stadium is getting into the act...

https://www.fox17online.com/tablet-showcase/entertainment/yankee-stadium-is-turning-into-a-giant-drive-in-movie-theater-this-summer

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NEW YORK CITY — An organization in New York City is working on an out-of-the-box idea to bring life back to one of the city’s most iconic gathering places that’s been sitting eerily empty for months.

With no Major League Baseball games scheduled to be played in the foreseeable future, MASC Hospitality Group, a New York-based events organizer, saw all the empty parking spaces at Yankee Stadium and saw the opportunity to create what it calls a “social distancing playground.”

 

The organization decided to take advantage of the recent resurgence of drive-in movies and announced the Uptown Drive-In Experience.

Organizers plan to offer a “complete drive-in experience with live performances from local artists, car-side dinner service from our fantastic street vendors, drinks from local and national brands, a movie feature presentation, games, raffles and tons of giveaways,” according to the event’s official website.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights are intended for more of a date-night feel, with a more family-friendly brunch series scheduled for earlier hours on Saturday and Sunday.

The Uptown Drive-In Experience is one of a number of community activities being planned by MASC Hospitality this summer for New York City, which was hit especially hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Since we were planning on having the Bronx Night Market, the Bronx Beer Festival and Uptown Epicure Festival running this summer, which was supposed to start in May, we already had a lot of great options available,” Marco Shalma of MASC Hospitality Group told Time Out. “Everyone is so excited about the possibility of connecting sooner [at this new experience] than initially planned.”

Tickets will be available to buy online and a waiting list is currently available on the event’s website. The price of the all-inclusive movie ticket has not been released yet but Shalma hopes that information will be available soon.

“We’re working with city and state officials, and some of our sponsors to reduce cost as much as we can to be able to make this very affordable, and for as many New Yorkers as possible,” Shalma told Time Out. “Also, with the help of our partners, we will be able to raffle a bunch of tickets.”

 

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