It's been 34 years since you could watch a drive-in movie in Wollongong.
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But - just as we've embraced jigsaw puzzles, nostalgia baking and spending too much time stuck at home with family - the post-COVID world means everything old is new again.
Next month, only a couple of kilometres from where the Kanahooka Lakeline Drive-In entertained families and loved-up couples until 1986, Wollongong City Council will host a one-night-only movie experience.
Kembla Grange Racecourse will become a cinema car park, with a big-screen showing Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.
At $14 a car, the event is designed to be a school holidays boredom killer at a time where many of the usual activities are still off limits.
The experience will be a first for many children and some millennial parents, who would have been toddlers or not yet born when the Kanahooka Road fixture closed down.
Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said the drive-in was a "socially distant" entertainment option that would appeal to multi-generations.
"Council has previously run outdoor movies over summer in some of our local parks, and they've always been great fun and enjoyed by all who have come along," he said.
"This year, recognising the impact of COVID-19, we're offering, for one night only, a pop-up drive-in movie in the Kembla Grange Racecourse carpark.
"Many of the children in our community may not have had the opportunity to experience a drive-in movie before, and I know the thought of going to the drive-in again will be a sentimental event for countless parents and grandparents, so I think it will be a great evening to bring families together.''
The screening is the latest in a growing number of drive-in events to be staged in the region.
The first, a drive-in album launch concert at Bulli Showground by local band Hockey Dad, sold out in minutes, quickly prompting a second show.
The band will now play back-to-back gigs on July 31 and August 1, with the audio streamed via FM radio for concertgoers to tune in.
Piggybacking off the two Hockey Dad's gigs, the council has also announced a drive-in concert to be held on August 2, with indie folk band Sons of the East and locals Corey Legge, The Groove Trio and Kay Proudlove playing.
In Shellharbour, KidzWish is running sessions for children and adults on July 24 and 25.
Movie goers will be able to drive onto the tarmac on the eastern end of Shellharbour Airport and tune in their FM radio for sound.
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Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
