Those yearning for a little bit of movie-going nostalgia and another reason to get out of the house will appreciate the foresight of the Guernsey County Fair Board.
That’s because the fairgrounds just east of Old Washington on U.S. 40 will be transformed into a drive-in theater on three dates this spring/summer—May 22, June 19, and July 17.
The facility will utilize the services of FunFlicks.com to provide a temporary, 40-by-20 foot inflatable screen. But, if demands for it turn out to be great, that temporary status may shift to something more permanent.
“We’re kind of cautious as we’re not sure how this will go,” said Brian Winters, the Guernsey County Fair Board president. “We’ve done the three dates so far, contracted and paid for those.
“We’ll know a whole lot more after the first and second showing. If this is something that flies, we will not continue to use an inflatable screen and will look for something more permanent.”
Like most counties throughout Ohio, last fall’s Guernsey County Fair was limited to the Jr. Fair, and it wasn’t open to the general public. That gave board members an unusually wide-open view of the infield whilst making final preparations.
All that extra space, coupled with operating through months of pandemic restrictions and regulations, gave the group an idea.
“There were four or five of us standing out there a couple of days before the fair, looking out across the grounds and thinking what else we could do here that would bring people in that may not typically go to the fair,” Winters recalled.
Winters works in Columbus, and throughout the pandemic he remembered seeing old mall parking lots in the area being repurposed as drive-in movie theater lots, utilizing temporary screens.
Why not try something similar back home?
“We didn’t jump on it right away and talked about it throughout the winter and came up with some vendors that actually do this as a service.”
The Particulars
Winters noted the screen itself takes roughly two hours to inflate and prepare and another two to tear down at the end of the showing.
Sounds will be available via an FM broadcast along with physical speakers located on the grounds in case anyone wants to sit outside of their vehicles and listen that way as opposed to tuning in on the radio.
The films scheduled for viewing aren’t selected yet. That part is taken care by the fair board and not FunFlicks.
“We have to go to the movie vendors or agents and get access to the movies,” Winters said. “We’re looking potentially for first-run movies, but not all of those are licensable for drive-in theaters. We’re working through all of that still. But, we do have a handle on the demographics, so we’re going to be showing family-friendly movies.”
Winters also said the board isn’t sure on if each event will be a double feature or just a single film being shown.
He explained that the original plan was to show one film, sell food and snacks in between, and then show the other. But it will be pushing midnight to 1 a.m. by the time the second film finishes, and he’s not sure if the fair will use that option on opening night.
“The guy from FunFlicks has been doing this a long time, and he said there’s a high percentage of people that bale out after the first film anyway, so we may end up just showing one.”
Given the screen is inflatable, weather could also play a factor for the scheduled dates as a certain amount of wind level will make viewing nigh impossible.
Should a cancellation be necessary, an announcement will be made in advance so as not to inconvenience potential moviegoers.
Costs and Accommodation Limits?
Winters noted the costs are still being ironed out, including price as well as whethertickets will be charged per person or per vehicle.
They want to make sure it’s a cost-effective venture, but also one that families will view as an affordable entertainment option for the night. The idea is to get a good turnout and potentially make this a permanent fixture at the fairgrounds.
When asked about capacity, Winters said initially they believe they can fit around 300 cars inside the infield for viewing. But a dry run will be necessary ahead of time in order to get a clearer picture of available space.
“We have a lot of room in there, but we will need to determine what the best number of (spots) is,” Winters said. “There will need to be a limit as we’re limited to the size of the infield of the race track.
“As soon as we get a dry run scheduled, we’ll know what our limit is.”
For more information, check out the fairgrounds’ Facebook page or visit it on the web.
