The St Albans Film Festival has teamed up with Ye Olde Fighting Cocks pub for this year's event.
The St Albans Fighting Film Festival starts this Thursday, bringing some much-needed movie action to a giant screen in pub garden starting with the 1980s hit movie Cocktail starring Tom Cruise and Elizabeth Shue.
This will be followed by another ‘80s classic, Dirty Dancing, on Friday, and then on July 8, the festival will be screening the Oscar-winning Parasite, followed by a Rocketman Sing-a-long on July 9.
St Albans Film Festival was established eight years ago by actress and casting agent Leoni Kibbey. In recent years, with the help of festival director Matt Bigg, it ran an open-air cinema in the Abbey Orchard in the shadow of the Cathedral, alongside its short film competition, which brought in entries from all over the world.
The pandemic led to the cancellation of last year's festival but Leoni said this year the team were really keen to bring some magical movie moments in atmospheric settings to the residents of St Albans despite the ongoing challenges to hosting events.
Leoni said: “We have all missed gathering together to enjoy the arts, whether that be live music, theatre, or open-air cinema experiences. We are delighted that Christo has given us his beautiful garden in which to create a wonderful cinema.
"Tickets are selling fast for all the movies that are being screened as people are so keen to get out and about and enjoy any social and arts experiences that are being put on locally. We can’t wait for the first night.”
Ye Olde Fighting Cocks landlord Christo Tofalli said: “I am a big fan of the St Albans Film Festival and hosted some of the festival events in the pub over eight years including the closing ceremony so I was keen to do whatever I keen to help support Leoni and Matt to bring it back this year. It’s going to be fantastic.”
Tickets cost £30.32 plus booking fee and include the movie, dinner and a cocktail from the new Fighting Cocktails bar.
For more information, go to stalbansfilmfestival.com
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