What to Know
- The cinema series has helmed a Santa Monica Airport drive-in over much of the fall and winter
- It returns to LA's outdoor areas, for a picnic-like experience, in late April, with "Spider-Man: No Way Home" at LA State Historic Park
- 50+ just-revealed events are scheduled for 2022; General admission is $19, and live music and food trucks are part of the scene
Picnic blankets have many lives, and relying on these sturdy squares of cloth to only serve our summer whims is to not realize all of the purposes they can and should serve.
A picnic blanket might add warmth in the winter, during a television binge, or it could serve as an element in a blanket fort. And do our pets love the burrow-ready coziness of a picnic blanket? They do, and they often make the fuzzy fabric their own.
But there comes a day when this talismanic object, an item that speaks of sunshine, sandwiches, and lemonade, is called back into its primary use, and for Angelenos? That call sounds more keenly when the summertime outdoor movie series begin to post their schedules.
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Which Street Food Cinema, one of the majors in the outdoor movie scene, just did, a couple of days before the start of spring 2022.
True, Street Food Cinema has been popping up around town, in drive-in form, at spots like Santa Monica Airport, where movies are still showing on select dates.
But the group's famous "Outdoor Season" schedule is now live, and the first alfresco screening is up in just over a month, at Los Angeles State Historic Park.
The date is April 30, a Saturday, and "Spider-Man: No Way Home" is the first film on the schedule.
A cavalcade of newer and vintage gems will soon follow, at verdant places like The Autry (the big grassy area near the Griffith Park museum), Poinsettia Park, and Will Rogers State Historic Park.
Those scrumptious silver-screen favorites include "Dirty Dancing," "Ten Things I Hate About You," and "A League of Their Own."
Yes, we said "scrumptious," because everything, but especially movie events, just grow more scrumptious, or scrumptiousier, in the spring and summertime, and we think we're right in saying so.
Speaking of scrumptious things, a revolving group of food trucks will pull up to the happenings. And, as is tradition, live music, too, will add heaps of zest of the most feel-good-y variety to the nights.
And adding further zest and notes of scrumptious-a-tude?
The fact that you can now put that picnic blanket to use for an outdoor picnic, one of the happy and picturesque hallmarks of Street Food Cinema.
Interesting to note: The series team says this is the first full outdoor season they've held in three years, making it an especially poignant homecoming for longtime fans.
Tickets are available now, and more information will be available about the specific food trucks and bands as each event draws closer, so best keep a keen eye on the Street Food Cinema social pages.
