The Southeast Alaska State Fair is hosting a drive-in movie night outside Harriett Hall on Friday evening at 7 p.m., screening the 1980’s classic “Goonies”—a Steven Spielberg adventure comedy that follows a group of young misfits who find an ancient, pirate’s treasure map.
“This is a way for us, since we’re not doing any indoor events, to get people here,” fair executive director Kari Johnson said. “We thought it would be a great idea to get people here and have a fun community event.”
Johnson said they’ll have an employee in charge of directing traffic. They’re hoping they can fit between 30 and 40 cars depending on size. A white projector screen that stretches 25 feet diagonally will be set up on the Harriett Hall lawn. An FM transmitter will allow the audience to listen on their car radios. Tickets are $15 per car and concessions will be available for purchase.
“We are going to have popcorn, candy and drinks and we’ll be selling those right outside the office through the window,” Johnson said.
The drive-in movie is the first of three the fair plans to screen. In May they’ll screen “Wonder Woman 1984” and in April they’ll screen “Grace.”
Johnson said there’s no current plans to regularly screen movies at the fair. Each film comes with a licensing fee that costs $300 to $500 depending on the movie.
“That can be pretty spendy. You end up breaking even,” Johnson said. “We got sponsors for each movie. The funding we’ll make will be on concessions.”