Last Friday a good friend of mine, Detta, picked me up in her swish little convertible and we headed off to the big shopping centre intu Merry Hill for the evening. We were off to the drive-in! The film we were off to see? Pretty Woman, one of my favourites.
To raise money for a local charity, Merry Hill have now done a couple of these drive-in movies. People buy tickets at around £15 per car and for that they get a spot in the car park where the screen is erected, and a goodie bag with popcorn & sweets. There was also a sheet of instructions about the film, and a voucher for the Nandos at the shopping centre.
The car park opened at 7 and generally places were allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. We were lucky enough to be invited as VIP guests and had a spot in the front row waiting for us! If you go to one of their drive-in events in the future try to go in a short car, as tall people carriers will be asked to park near the back.
As the film wasn’t due to start until 9:45 we headed into the Merry Hill centre and had a rather delicious dinner at the Pizza Express there. The centre closes at 9 and by then we’d finished our food and spent too much money in Paperchase, so we headed back to the car park where we were amused to find lookalikes for Richard Gere and Julia Roberts parading around the car park having their photos snapped! We couldn’t resist getting our photo taken with them…
Next up were some games, with a DJ from Signal 107 roaming the car park asking trivia questions about the film and the shopping centre. Guessers had to run up to him with the answer and the people with the first correct answers were given a £25 gift card for the centre as a reward. A singing competition came next, with Detta and four other contestants singing a line from “Mysterious Girl,” to try and win a VIP ticket to meet him during his visit to the centre the day after.
Time for the movie to begin! It started on time and the HD projection onto the giant blow up screen was excellent. We’d already tuned in our radio as per the instruction sheet, and the audio was perfectly synced and crystal clear. I love Pretty Woman so I really enjoyed the film, just enjoying the chance to chill out, relax, and munch the popcorn and sweets!
I’ve been lucky enough to go to the drive in cinema at Peterborough a couple of times. We saw Grease last time, and loads of people went dressed as the Pink ladies and sat on the front of their convertibles. I also loved that they had an interval where they sold popcorn through the windows to everyone!
Pretty Woman is another perfect drive-in movie.
Wow this looks so much fun! We have been meaning to go to our local drive in for ages. It sounds like something straight out of a film! x
I would LOVE to go to a drive in! Seems so American! Love the idea x