Greater Victoria will get its silver-screen groove back next month with two options for audiences — both inside and out.
The Vic Theatre on Douglas Street will reopen for daily showings on June 12, one week prior to launching a drive-in movie theatre at Bayview Place in Vic West.
Organizers of the Victoria Film Festival, who also operate the Vic Theatre, have finalized plans for outdoor screenings at the impromptu drive-in theatre on June 19 and 20, but have not confirmed which films will be screened. The parking lot at Bayview Place, near the Roundhouse development, is where up to 50 cars will be parked for the screenings.
Movies — including popcorn — are back on at the Vic Theatre as a result of enhanced physical- distancing measures, said director Kathy Kay of the Victoria Film Festival. Directional signs on the floor and Plexiglas panels are among the new additions, providing space between moviegoers.
The 213-seat theatre has been reduced to 50 seats in the new setup, Kay said. There will be additional time between screenings to ensure proper cleaning takes place, she said.
“Every time somebody sits in a chair, we’re going to disinfect after they go,” Kay said.
The theatre, which closed in mid-March, will have two screenings a day during the week, with matinées on Saturdays. The films that will be shown have not yet been finalized, but Kay has an isolation-inspired idea of what she wants to offer when audiences come back.
“We’re going to go with a travel theme for the first week,” she said. “But we’re still in the midst of confirming that with distributors.”
