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Boston Parks pivots to drive-in movies amid pandemic

We want to say thank you to everyone who came out and joined us for our first ever Drive-in Movie Series!

Due to the on-going public health circumstances surrounding COVID-19, many of our regularly scheduled parks programming could not take place this summer. Like many things in 2020, we had to make adjustments. Luckily, with sponsorship support from the Highland Street Foundation, we were able to team up with the Mayor’s Office of Tourism, Sport and Entertainment and the Age Strong Commission to put on this socially-distant Drive-in movie series. 

To save the grass in our parks system from damage, we hosted the series in two different parking lots throughout the City. The Boston Convention & Exhibition (BCEC) parking lot in South Boston and Wentworth Institute of Technology’s Parker Street Parking lot in Mission Hill. We want to thank our host sites for working with us on this series. 

Our movie screen was provided by local production company Audio Spectrum, and some familiar food vendors provided snacks and treats to over 980 cars filled with movie-goers from neighborhoods all over Boston. Together, we were able to host nine different showings over the course of four Wednesdays in July. Families were able to enjoy films like Jurassic Park, Frozen 2, and Harriet from the safety of their own vehicle, with audio streaming from their car radio. 



This was the first Drive-in movies series we have ever hosted. Have any ideas for improvements, movie recommendations or know of a parking lot in your neighborhood that you think may work? Email Parks@Boston.gov with the subject line "Drive-in Movie Idea" to let us know!

Drive-in Highlights: 

BCEC
Movie-goer enjoying 'Frozen 2' from the bed of a pick-up truck.

Movie
View of the BCEC parking lot in South Boston before the start of 'Jurassic Park.' 

Age Strong
Mayor Walsh greeting a movie-goer during our Age Strong Matinee showing of '42,' the story of American hero, Jackie Robinson.

Age Strong
Mayor Walsh and Commissioner Emily Shea celebrated the 61st Anniversary of Wayne and Janet Black during the Age Strong Matinee. Wayne and Janet had their first date at a drive-in movie and were excited to be back at another to celebrate their big day!

Movie
We had plenty of volunteers onsite to help coordinate parking for the shows.

 

Wentworth
A movie-goers point of view during our showing of 'Trolls' at Wentworth's Parking Street Parking lot.

Wentworth
A view of the crowd at our showing of Harriet on July 29.
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