Melbourne boasts numerous open air cinema venues, both free and paid.

Every Melbournian and city visitor has so many options to choose from!

From grand events at Royal Botanic Gardens to low profile movies in the park held by local councils; from family-friendly sessions at Wilson Botanic Park to M-rated movies at QV Cinema; or from old fashioned drive-ins functioning from mid-fifties to opened in the last decade art-house and independent film oriented venues, the choice is yours.

However, Melbourne is big. It’s one of the most geographically extensive cities in the world, and your nearest open air cinema can be rather far from your place.

To bring movies under the stars closer to home, you could do one of the following:

  • Talk to your local council and ask them to do more for their community. Outdoor movies are a good reason to bring together local businesses, volunteers, young talents and local families, and promote council services, like mobile libraries or swimming pools.
  • Convince your sports club or local school to run a special fundraising event. Movie nights are getting more and more popular among fundraising organisations, because they have high potential to generate revenue both from the tickets sale and from supporting activities (face painting, petting zoo, jumping castle rides).
  • Check your local beer garden – nothing goes better with the movie than a good selection of food and drinks; nothing makes the pub stand out from the crowd more prominent than a big inflatable screen, making everyone go “wow!”
  • Host a movie night in your own backyard.

Whatever option you choose, we recommend to read the Open Air Cinema Guide, which will help answer all your questions and organise an ideal movie night.

Have you been pondering to host your very own Melbourne open air cinema night – right in your backyard? Here is the good news:

  1. Inflatable screens are quick and easy to set up. Allow 5 minutes for the screen and 10-15 minutes for all other equipment.
  2. The screens can be used in wet areas (near swimming pools) – great idea for a pool party. A dive-in, anyone?
  3. The screen surface can be washed in the washing machine.
  4. You can do much more with the backyard cinema than just watching a movie – play console games, have a go at karaoke, or show your family photos and videos.
  5. Hosting a cinema party in your backyard means you don’t have to travel back from the movies. Just walk indoors or simply stay outside (even better, leave your kids, if you have any, camping in your backyard after the movie and enjoy the quiet night).

Need help, advice or equipment to organise your Melbourne open air cinema event? Contact Smart Digital for wide range of screens and equipment to please any audience from 10 to 3000 people.