Hundreds turn out for contact-free, drive-in movie night in Redcliff, Alberta

The southern Alberta town of Redcliff found a way to stay connected as a community during COVID-19 — and captured a little nostalgia while they were at it.

Town councillor Chris Czember organized a free pop-up drive-in movie night in an unused field that he says drew upwards of 350 cars on April 18.

"It looked extremely similar to what you remember from our younger years," Czember told The Homestretch host Doug Dirks on Tuesday.

The event drew enough privately-funded support to screen a double-feature; Jumanji: The Next Level, which appealed to kids and families, followed by the World War I blockbuster 1917.

No bathrooms allowed

To pull it off, Czember said that he had to locate a suitable space with enough parking, obtain an inflatable screen and projector (supplied by a company called FreshAirCinema), and adhere to a strict set of rules.

"My goal was to make it safer than a big box store parking lot," Czember said.

"So in order to do that, [cars were parked] six feet apart, windows up at all times, there's no bathrooms on site, so there's no reason to leave your vehicle — and nobody was even allowed to leave their vehicle."

Czember said that he borrowed the precautions to make the event "contactless" from the nearby town of Brooks — which initially conceptualized a drive-in movie night that was later cancelled as the pandemic worsened.

'As safe as possible'

The local RCMP approved the plan, and eventually, Czember said, Alberta Health Services did too.

After the stellar turnout for a town of about 5,600 residents, Czember said he's fielding requests to host it a second time. 

"There certainly seems to be some demand for it. Everybody seems to be asking me if we're going to have another one," Czember said.

But he also doesn't want the event to lose its sparkle.

"I don't want the appeal to wear off, and I also want to make sure it's as safe as possible," Czember said.

"So, I think I'm going to let it sit for a couple weeks and see where our COVID-19 cases are at, and as long as there's no big outbreak here, I think it'll be safe to do it again."