Drive-in movie Friday night to be hosted at Central Park

Inaugural Car Cinema event will feature film ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’

FREMONT >> The city of Fremont is hosting its first drive-in movie event beginning Friday night with a showing of “Jumanji: The Next Level.”

The Car Cinema showing offers residents a way to get some safe entertainment amid the coronavirus pandemic and could bring in some revenue for the city’s recreation services department, which has taken a hit this summer with the city’s water park Aqua Adventure forced to close and most youth camps and classes were canceled.

The event will occur at the Central Park softball field parking lot at 1110 Stevenson Blvd. Gates will open to vehicles at 7 p.m., and Friday’s movie will begin at dark, according to the city’s website.

Tickets are $35 per car, with a maximum number of people limited to the number of seat belts, according to Kim Beranek, Fremont’s deputy director of community services.

The city also is offering a $70-per-car package, which in addition to the movie buys a 16-inch pizza, a family Caesar salad, a bucket of popcorn, four candies and four bottles of water, all from the softball field complex snack shack.

All tickets must be preordered online because none will be sold at the gate.

Some of the money collected will go toward paying for equipment rentals including the screen and rights to the movie, and some will help pay staff. Beranek also said $5 from each ticket bought will go toward a community services scholarship fund that helps children from lower-income families attend camps and classes in the city.

Cars and trucks are allowed, but motorcycles and RVs are not. Beranek said the city tentatively is planning to have two more drive-in movie nights in the same location, likely on Aug. 28 and Sept. 11.

“We’re excited to be able to offer this program to the community,” Beranek said. She noted the Alameda County Fairgrounds has been hosting drive-in movies on weekend nights and many residents had asked if Fremont could do something similar.

People attending the movie are asked to stay in their cars the whole time except to get preordered food or to use the restroom. Masks are required when outside of the car, the city’s website said.

More information can be found on the city’s Car Cinema website and FAQ page.