Get the lawn chairs and snacks ready, because it’s almost time for the weekly film screening at Meridian Place.
On tap for Lawn Chair Luminata at dusk on Wednesday is the animated comedy Ratatouille.
“We had our first one last week with Ron’s Gone Wrong,” said the Barrie Film Festival’s Claudine Benoit.
She expects the film to start at about 9:20 p.m. Those who arrive early can wander through the Barrie Thunder Classics Car Club display, which gets going at 5 p.m. at Heritage Park. And chairs aren’t absolutely necessary, given the tiered seating at the downtown square.
Movies will take place weather permitting and screenings will take place the following day for any film rained out on Wednesday. Watch for messaging on the Lawn Chair Luminata website and social media for rain-out notifications.
Lawn Chair Luminata started in 2008, following the Barrie Film Festival’s first outdoor screening the previous year, said Benoit.
“It’s just a great way for people to have free family programming in the summer months," she said. “It’s a great way to be outside together and in some ways creating memories.”
The series is presented by the Barrie Film Festival and Downtown Barrie BIA and includes the Paddling Film Festival on July 20. In subsequent weeks the summer lineup is: Sing 2, Casablanca (1942), Clifford the Big Red Dog, Jumanji (1995), Encanto, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
The festival continues right through to the end of August.
There is more outdoor film programming in the works.
The Barrie Film Festival has also partnered with the Ethnic Mosaic which will present some themed movie nights later in the summer that will also include food and other elements to celebrate their culture.
“I’m looking forward, also, to our fall festival because it’s going to be our 25th anniversary,” said Benoit. “We’re moving the festival back to a 10-day event in person, if everything goes as planned.”
