Summer Outdoor Cinema Guide 2015

If ever there was evidence of the huge public appetite for al fresco cinema, just look at the popularity of Outdoor Cinema. This appeared on Facebook in early April announcing events across the country, including one in Bristol on June 5, and swiftly clocked up 100,000 likes. Then there’s Open Air Cinema, which also appeared on Facebook in early April, and amassed 71,000 likes. What’s more, 20,000 people say they’ll be attending the Bristol event on July 31. Or how about Moonlight Cinema? This also appeared on Facebook in  – you guessed it! – early April and now has 35,000 likes with 10,000 people saying they’re going to the Bristol event on June 12.

Just one problem. Not one of these events has been confirmed. No venues or films have been announced, the Open Air Cinema Facebook page seems to have disappeared altogether, and each of the websites carries an appeal for suitable screening locations – which doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that they’ll be going ahead. This has led to angry claims on social media that the whole thing is a data-mining scam, since some of these sites invite users to ‘pre-register’ for early access to tickets by submitting contact information and personal data, such as date of birth. We’ve been unable to contact the organisers for their response.

Ti Singh of the Bristol Bad Film Club has successfully organised outdoor screenings in Bristol and is among those who are sceptical that these events will happen. He’s spent the last couple of months drowning in the council paperwork required for two screenings that will definitely go ahead this summer. The first is a BBFC event featuring the Ray Harryhausen curio The Valley of Gwangi, in which a Mexican travelling circus captures and exhibits a dinosaur, with predictable consequences. This is showing in Victoria Park, Bedminster, on Saturday August 8. Tickets are on sale here. As Bristol Sunset Cinema, he’s also putting on the brilliant Rob Reiner fairytale The Princess Bride in the appropriate surroundings of Blaise Castle on Saturday August 29. Tickets cost £10/£5 (under 10s) and are available here.

Should those not float your, er, boat, the Two Wheeled Drive In movie theatre for bikes returns for a brace of nautically-themed events deep in Leigh Woods amid the boats of Luke Jerram’s Withdrawn art project. On Friday July 3, you can see Wes Anderson’s comedy The Life Aquatic. On Saturday July 4, they’re showing Spielberg’s classic Jaws. Tickets are £10 for each screening and are available here.

As for other outdoor cinema events that are guaranteed to take place in this region over the summer, it seems you can watch anything you like so long at it’s Dirty Dancing. Backyard Cinema is the main organiser of local outdoor screenings, using five locations. Batman: The Dark Knight is screened in the spooky surroundings of Arnos Vale Cemetery on Sept 26. At Weston Cricket Club, they’re showing Labyrinth (June 5), Dirty Dancing (July 24) and The Lost Boys (Aug 14). Also in Weston, at Old Town Quarry, they’ve got Top Gun (Aug 28) and Martin Scorsese’s gangster classic Goodfellas (Sept 18). In the Yeo Valley organic garden at Blagdon, you can see The Boat That Rocked (Sept 4). Head further south to Glastonbury Abbey for the singalong version of Grease (July 31), Emma Thompson’s Jane Austen bonnetfest Sense and Sensibility (Aug 15) and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Sept 29).

If you’re prepared to venture a little further afield, Cult Screens has a programme of summer weekend screenings in Swindon’s Town Gardens Bowl. This comprises The Breakfast Club (June 5), Oscar winner Birdman (June 6), the inevitable Dirty Dancing (Aug 1), The Usual Suspects (Aug 2), Pulp Fiction (Aug 22) and The Theory of Everything (Aug 23).

Finally, Luna Cinema has two events at Lydiard House, just outside Swindon. Yep, you guessed it, Dirty Dancing (Aug 8) and Top Gun (Aug 9). Should you prefer to take the opposite direction on the M4, they’re also at Cardiff Castle for a three-night stand the following month: Back to the Future (Sept 18), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Sept 19) and Mamma Mia! (Sept 20).