The City of Woodland will once again offer several movies and events throughout the summer months during its Hot Summer Nights and Movies in the Park events that take place at Horseshoe Lake Park through August.
Each Friday night movie event includes live music from various bands and a $5 dinner from the Veterans of Foreign Wars that includes hot dogs, chips and a drink, beginning at 5:30 p.m. on the day of the events.
Tracy Coleman, the public works director for the City of Woodland, said the bands begin to play around 6 p.m. and will perform until the movie starts at around 8:30 or 9 p.m.
On Friday, July 7, there will be a showing of Disney Pixar’s Lightyear, along with a military vehicle display. Movies are labeled to start at dusk or 9 p.m. The live band during July 7’s event will be the Bad Motor Scooters.
Once a month, a co-hosted beer garden will be provided in conjunction with the Downtown Woodland Revitalization group. The beer garden is set for July 21 and will also take place on Aug. 25.
“Something new that they’re offering, that is if you pre-purchase tickets to enter into the beer garden, they’re offering a discount ticket sales and they can pick those up through the public works department, which is who puts on the Hot Summer Nights and Movies in the Park,” Coleman said.
Coleman said July 21’s theme will be sports night and will feature lighted kayaks on the lake at night. The movie that evening will be Disney’s Encanto and Dakota Robins will perform live music.
“During the night time where we show the movie, we have people decorate their kayaks in Christmas motif. They have snowmen on the kayaks and there’s paddle boarders out there and it’s all lit up,” Coleman said. “They do battery operated lighted kayaks and boards.”
On July 28, the theme will be grandparents night. The event will include a classic car show prior to the showing of Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. Before the movie, Gary Bennet and Coat Tail Riders will perform.
On Aug. 4, the event will center around “superhero blast.” Kids are encouraged to dress up as their favorite superhero and enjoy a showing of the DC League of Super-Pets. The music performance will feature Jenny and Jerry Tingley.
On Aug. 11, Horseshoe Lake Park will feature construction vehicles and equipment, which will be on display for “heavy equipment night.” The Bluerock Trio is set to play live music prior to the showing of Rumble.
The final movie night of the summer will include a tailgate on Aug. 25.
“People can come out to the park and actually park on the park grounds itself and they can watch the movie from the tailgate of their truck,” Coleman said. “And then they’ll also have the beer garden, so they can park their vehicles there if they want to enjoy a cool beverage from the beer garden.”
The beer garden will run from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Live music will be provided by 24-7 prior to the showing of Dreamworks’ The Bad Guys.
Coleman thanked the sponsors who are involved in the Hot Summer Nights and Movies in the Park event series. They include Advanced Electric, Downtown Woodland Revitalization, and Fibre Federal Credit Union, among others.
People are encouraged to bring their own seating when they attend the movies. Coleman said she has seen inflatable couches for the movie nights, but generally lawn chairs and blankets are the most popular. Along with food by the VFW, cotton candy and ice cream will be provided by Pacific Northwest Mobile Bars. Popcorn will be available courtesy of the Popcorn Cove, Coleman added.
“And by the way, this is all free, all free to anybody who comes, whether you’re a citizen of Woodland or not. But the other cool thing is we give out free gift baskets, so we give out a movie night gift basket, which includes popcorn, candy, water, liquorice, so on and so forth, and it’s a free raffle,” Coleman said. “Anybody who gets there, we hand out tickets ahead of time and we raffle off these baskets that are made available because of our sponsors.”
Those who don’t win a movie basket can purchase a $5 dinner from the VFW or snacks.
After each movie finishes, Coleman said they raffle off the movie to a kid in the audience.
For more information regarding Woodland’s Hot Summer Nights and Movies in the Park, contact the City of Woodland at 360-225-8281.
