Bring Back the Drive-In Experience
By Irma Negrete | December 7
When I was younger my family and I used to all pile up in the family van tucked into our PJs and blankets and go to the drive-in theatres. My parents were firm believers of having fun on a budget so on many occasions my sister and I hid in the truck of the van so we could get in for free. The drive-in theatres hold many fond memories of my childhood and sadly I would have to admit that it's been years since I've been to one.
A regular pastime for many was to go to the local movie theatre but when COVID-19 hit, along with schools and malls closing so did the movie theatres. But guess what did open back up, the drive-in theatre! Before the pandemic you would never hear anyone talking about going to the drive-in (unless they were talking about the starbucks drive thru) but now I see ads for it plastered all over my social media and it's not just movies but its events that would typically would have been in person but then have been converted into drive thru experiences.
For example, in LA during Halloween the popular Haunted HayRide opens up and typically you and a group of people all pack into a big trailer covered in hay and go through a haunted “house.” Not going to lie I’ve been there and it is scary but fun. Well since COVID shut in-person events down, the Haunted Hayride pivoted and became a drive thru haunted house where you can experience all the scary and spookiness from the comfort of your car. Another example would be the Stranger Things Drive-In experience happening now in the DTLA area and I can guarantee the christmas light shows will also be through a drive thru experience.
Throughout the years we’ve seen many things come and go, especially the drive in experience but this time I think it’s here to stay.
Irma Negrete is a full-time Journalism student with an emphasis in public relations at California State University Northridge (CSUN). She currently holds two jobs as the office assistant at the Journalism Department and as a Peer mentor for first time freshmen at CSUN. In her free time Negrete loves to play animal crossing and watch the latest movies on Netflix.