In an email last Thursday afternoon, NVU Director of Marketing and Communications Sylvia Plumb announced that Northern Vermont University partnered with Catamount Arts to create a drive-in movie and concert series on both NVU campuses over the summer. The event is called “Drive-In to Stay Safe” and will begin July 11 through August.
All concerts will begin at 7:00 PM, and movies will begin at sunset so that they can be clearly seen. Plumb says that parking for movies would open 30 minutes before sunset, while parking details regarding concert shows are still being worked on. NVU-Johnson will host Drive-In to Stay Safe shows every Saturday in the Visual Arts Center parking lot. At NVU-Lyndon, shows will take place every Sunday in the Vail parking lot.
All tickets must be pre-purchased and are estimated to be $20 per car. All attendees are being asked to stay in or on their vehicles during the shows. Ticket sale details have not yet been released. Additionally, volunteers are being sought out to help park cars at each event. Volunteers will receive free admission to the movies and concerts. Anyone interested is encouraged to contact Tim Mikovitz, the NVU Director of Theaters and Programming, with questions.
Pets will not be permitted at the events. A further list of guidelines will be published closer to July 11.
The radio stations on both campuses will also be in the conversation as planning for these events continues. WJSC at NVU-Johnson and WWLR at NVU-Lyndon might be broadcasting sound for the concert events, though more details need to be ironed out according to NVU Dean of Students Jonathan Davis. “The movie events will not use the stations. Instead, they will use a portable FM transmitter just for the parking lot area. This has to do with licensing,” he Davis told The Critic.
The Critic reached out to local students and alumni of Northern Vermont University to get their feedback on the event series. Trevor Utton, a 2020 graduate of NVU-Lyndon said that “this gives back to the community” and introduces “new eyes and new families to the institution.” Plumb echoed that this is indeed the goal of the series, writing “Through the event series, Catamount Arts is hoping to attract community members to our Johnson and Lyndon campuses to strengthen the tie that community members have with NVU.”
Jake Fortin, a 2019 NVU-Lyndon graduate is also very excited about the events. Fortin expressed that it will bring “some kind of normal” back to the community, especially with other events and traditions being canceled or postponed. “It’ll be nice to see Lyndon lively again throughout the summer,” Fortin told The Critic.
Will Miller-Brown is a junior at NVU-Lyndon and commutes to school. He says that “anything that gives people in the community an activity to do–while still following social distancing guidelines–that can take our minds off of everything that’s going on right now is very much needed.” Miller-Brown hopes that in these challenging times, drive-in movie theaters and carhops will make a comeback, and he hopes to attend some NVU Drive-In events between haying season at his family farm.