Friday, 1 December, 2017.
Kicking things off in late October, we hit the road to bring Cinema Under the Stars to seven beautiful locations throughout regional NSW. Animated blockbusters; Sing, The Secret Life of Pets and Moana were popular with young and old. Ovals and parks filled with locals who enjoyed a magical evening of free family entertainment.
First up were Ballina and Lismore and we couldn’t have asked for a better weekend for the season opening. The weather was perfect for families and friends to relax and enjoy pre-movie entertainment and free popcorn. The following weekend we headed out west to Orange to host Cinema Under the Stars in one of the most beautiful locations; Orange Botanic Gardens.
Next stop was Port Macquarie followed by Forster. The weather was moody but the Port Macquarie community enjoyed their movie despite a little rain. Forster drew a large crowd and we showcased some sensational local talent. To conclude the first half of the season we finished with a trip to Dubbo and Mudgee. It was a hot weekend for the Central West but still two fantastic events to wrap-up the first half of the season.
Each event had plenty of entertainment before the movie got underway with local musicians performing and circus workshops by Circus in Education. Kids loved learning diablo skills, juggling routines and new hula-hoop tricks! For those who wanted to exert even more energy, the inflatable football pitch was a great way for children to enjoy friendly games of small-sided football.
Joe Mungovan toured with us throughout October and November, performing his music at all locations. We’d also like to thank our other supporting artists Luke & Sebastian, Tim Stokes, Gabrielle Flanagan, Riley Paige, Luke Ligtenberg, Sam Coon and Nick Wall for their outstanding performances.
Newcastle Permanent Cinema Under the Stars is recognised as Australia’s largest free regional outdoor cinema program with a record 17 events across the 2017/18 season. We’ll be back in the New Year returning to Singleton, followed by our first ever event in beautiful Nelson Bay!
Saturday 13th of January, 2018, is a date for the diary as we return once again to the picturesque King Edward Park for our flagship Cinema Under the Stars event in Newcastle.
Maitland, Gosford, Grafton, Coffs Harbour, Tamworth, Armidale and Taree follow, which take us right through to the end of February.
Thank you to all of our community and media partners and a very special mention to our Event Managers, Be Productions who make the events a success. We look forward to a sensational second half of the season!