Grab your popcorn: Maritime drive-ins plan big summer with new releases, old favourites

The Brackley Drive-in in Brackley Beach, P.E.I., is pictured.

For some Maritimers, it’s a ritual as sacred as the first swim of the summer; for others it’s a brand-new experience. The drive-in theatre might not be the cultural behemoth it used to be in the 1960s and 1970s, but several businesses are keeping the projector lights flickering as they prepare for what they hope is a busy season in the region.

“I think the public’s interest in drive-ins has grown in the last 10 years,” said Kirk Longmire, co-chair of the Valley Drive-in at Cambridge Station, N.S. “There will never be a return to the 50s, but the nostalgia piece is huge. Going to the drive-in is one of those things you remember, you remember how it made you feel.

“It’s a lifelong thing. We’ve been doing it long enough that we actually have young people who worked with us in 2000 who have kids and grandkids of their own who come.”

Waking up a drive-in from its winter hibernation is no simple task, especially for the Neptune Drive-in located in Shediac, N.B., which has been closed since August 2022. Sébastien Després is the new co-owner of the business, bringing the drive-in under the banner of Shediac Wonderland.

Després said they’ve completely remodeled the canteen and they plan to bring in Texas-style barbecue, which they hope to keep open year-round. They’re looking at a soft open on May 9 followed by an official launch on the Victoria Day long weekend.

“It’s a weight of responsibly I feel we have right now and we want to do well by the community,” he said. “The drive-in has been a mainstay in Shediac since the 60s.”

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When it comes to mainstays, few spots in the Maritimes can match the legacy of the Brackley Drive-in on Prince Edward Island, which originally opened in 1959. Current owner Bob Boyle has operated it for 32 years and he’s seen firsthand the regular ebb and flow of the business, which underwent a big change during the pandemic.

“Times were tough during COVID-19, all the turmoil in Hollywood put the regular film production on hold,” he said. “We never seemed to get back to a normal film schedule. This is the first time since 2019 that it looks like a more normal year.

“This is the first year in my 32 years in the drive-in business that I went to the drive-in convention in Orlando, Fla. It was a great exchange of ideas with a number of passionate drive-in owners. I have a notebook full of ideas I want to try.”

Don Monahan, co-owner of the Sussex Drive-in, which has been around since 1967, said the pandemic helped bring some traffic back to the outdoor business as people wanted to see movies on a big screen while maintaining social distancing.

“During COVID it helped to re-establish the importance of the drive-in,” Monahan said. “That drove attendance levels to a higher record. A lot of people thought drive-ins play old movie but it’s quite to the contrary.”

Longmire said they plan to make a few structural upgrades to the backside of the screen while Monahan will put the projector through a few trial runs to ensure the lightbulb still works. A drive-in movie theatre is much more exposed than its indoor counterpoint, making maintenance and cleaning a major component of the opening process.

“When you put it to bed in the winter, there’s a lot of cleaning to do,” Boyle said. “Debris to pick up from the winter storms, general maintenance that needs to get done, it takes about two weeks.”

Many of the drive-ins are mere days away from welcoming fleets of cars, vans, and trucks to their lots for the new season. The Valley and Brackley drive-ins are opening on May 3 while the Sussex Drive-in is looking at May 10 as their starting point. The Shoebox Drive-In in Westville, N.S., also opens May 17.

“It’s similar to tailgating,” Monahan said. “Folks show up early and they turn it into a small community event.”