Drive-ins across Alberta given the green light to press play, local operators pleased

“As soon as the weather clears, we are hoping to run every weekend through the summer. We’re going to apply for a different permit that will allow us to operate more than just occasionally, we would like to see this four or five nights a week. We plan on leaving the screen material up all season long, we will take it down at the end of the season and put it up again next summer.”

Drive-in events across Alberta, including Raymond, High River and Calgary were all cancelled abruptly this past weekend. However, Binning doesn’t believe AHS would close everyone down within hours of the event.

“It kind of leads me to believe that maybe there were concerns on how things were being operated. It seems odd that AHS would do that within an hours notice, generally, they’ve been pretty good at giving you a day or two to prepare, but I can’t speak for certain. It was disheartening and yet we felt that we had crossed our T’s and dotted our I’s, we had a green light to go ahead with an invitation-only test show and got approval on a local basis, both from the city and AHS.”

According to AHS, people looking to attend a movie must remember:

People must remain within a motor vehicle that is designed to be closed to the elements while attending the performance activity except where necessary to use the washroom
People must position their motor vehicle at least two metres away from other motor vehicles
Attendees only share vehicles with members of their household

However, the announcement didn’t come soon enough for the Bon Jovi drive-in concert in Raymond. Greg Robinson, Community Development with the Town of Raymond, says they have postponed the show, but are working with the show promoters to reschedule the concert for sometime in June.

“They have certainly given us some flexibility when it comes to postponing the show into June, our hope is tentatively looking at June 5, which is a little soon given the current climate, but potentially as late as June 26 for Bon Jovi. We don’t want to turn anybody away from what we think will be an amazing show, it means it might just have to wait a little bit longer to take part in it.”

Anyone who has purchased tickets to the concert is asked to visit Raymond.ca/drivein to stay informed. The final announcement for a set date is expected to be made in the coming days.

The Flordia Georgia Line concert is still set to take place on June 12.

Binning says the drive-ins went away for obvious reasons years ago, such as economics as they’re not viable if you have to purchase land and the right equipment.

“The idea came to us one day, we were like why are we looking to rent a screen and spend more money on that than we would ever make when we have all the raw materials right here. 15 feet above the ground, we have a giant billboard that is 15 by 33 feet wide, with the right material stretched over it makes for the perfect screen.”

To find out what movies are playing or want to buy tickets, you can find all the details on the Movie Mill’s Facebook page.

by Karsen Marczuk

Drive-ins across Alberta given the green light to press play, local operators pleased

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