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If you’re tired of seeing the same superhero blockbuster every summer—well, we can’t really help you. (Not until someone buys our screenplay, anyway.) You can, however, shake up your cinema experience this season with a movie night at one of these unique outdoor locations.
Fairmount Cemetery, the second oldest operating cemetery in Denver, is striving to turn its 280-acre facility into more than just bone storage. Every Saturday through August 29, Fairmount’s gates will creak open at 8 p.m. for the site’s second free summer movie series. (The shows start at dusk, typically around 8:30 p.m.) The family-friendly films, including Big Hero 6 and Monsters Inc., are screened a safe distance from any graves, but you’re still bound to feel a thrill…thanks to free popcorn and on-site food trucks.
If your favorite part of a drive-in movie isn’t the film (wink, wink), stay away from Denver Mart’s new outdoor theater. In May, the largest trade-show facility in the Rocky Mountain region debuted the biggest screen around. For $10, Denver Mart shows first-run double features seven days a week using one of the most advanced projectors on the market as well as audio broadcast through your car stereo (rather than staticky speakers). In short, your best make-out moves stand no chance against this modern marvel.
Denverites have been catching flicks at Elitch Gardens since 1896—but we’re betting our ancestors didn’t watch Edison’s Vitascope in their bathing dresses. For the second summer in a row, Elitch Gardens Theme and Water Park is hosting four “dive-in” movies—starting July 10 with Maleficent and wrapping up July 31 with Monsters University—in its wave pool. Admission to the park grants you space at the showings, which start between 7:30 and 8 p.m. Just remember: No grub in the pool. Nobody wants a Caddyshack-style evacuation.
