Drive-in fever to peak end of September
Garden Routers are thrilled at the idea of having a drivein cinema to combat Covidblues. If all goes according to plan, the nostalgia of drive-in cinemas will relive in eight towns across the region, come end of September.
The organisers of the Garden Route International Film Festival (Griff), scheduled for 21 September to 11 October, have already identified suitable spots in George, Mossel Bay, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, Riversdale, Calitzdorp, Ladismith and Oudtshoorn to showcase a double feature for two nights.
According to Patrick Walton, Griff director, they are also taking the festival online as a virtual festival.
This way provision is made to hold the festival in a virtual environment as well as a physical space, should Covid-19 put a spanner in the works.
Tickets will be available a month before the event, with roughly 60 cars allowed per venue. "We want people to enjoy this form of socialising and remember the heydays of the drive-in experience and share that as a family," reads a blog on the Griff website.
There is a real chance that the drive-ins might stay for good after the festival, as they can be an ideal business opportunity. Festival coordinator Shianne Maritz said they have the equipment and infrastructure to make this happen. Walton loved the drive-in as a kid.
"My mum would stop by
KFC, grab a bucket and head to the drive-in," he said. "We would reverse the Mazda 323 and open the hatchback filled with our duvets and pillows, hang our speaker on the window and watch two features at Seabreeze."
The next entry deadline for the film festival is 20 June, and they are currently in negotiations to premiere some big South African films.
"We are busy updating the judges' profiles on the web page and more information will follow. We will have more information towards next week, from 15 June," said Walton.