East Lansing resident Blair Renfro kisses the head of his son, Wyatt Renfro, 6, while they wait for the movie to begin Thursday night at the Moonlight Film Festival held at Valley Court Park. An outdoor movie will be shown every Thursday through August.
East Lansing resident Sherrie Baidoon and her two children, Caroline, 13, and Nicholas, 10, enjoyed a movie in the park Thursday at the first night of the Moonlight Film Festival at Valley Court Park, 400 Hillside Court.
“It’s been very enjoyable,” Baidoon said. “It’s a fun evening for the family to get together.”
The festival began Thursday with the movie “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” and will continue with a different movie every Thursday in July at 9:30 p.m. and Thursdays in August at 9:00 p.m. until August 25.
The event is free to the public and will feature a live musical performer one hour prior to the movie.
“(The music) is a nice prelude to the movie and it’s fun because you get an opportunity to hear different performers,” Baidoon said.
Community events assistant for the city of East Lansing Michelle Carlson said the event usually attracts between 400-500 people if the weather is nice. In the event of rain, the show will be canceled.
Baidoon said the event is more convenient and cheaper than going to a movie theater.
“People are so busy that they don’t often have an opportunity to get to the movies, but this is nice because it’s later in the evening and you can bring your kids,” Baidoon said. “It’s casual and it doesn’t cost anything, which is really an advantage in these hard economic times.”
The event also provides community members with an opportunity to gather and socialize.
“It encourages people to come out who live in the community and … it gives people an opportunity to get to know one another,” Baidoon said.
This summer, Grand Grillin will be serving food at the event every week.
Grand Grillin is a mobile food cart that sells chicken, salads, wraps, soup and more.
“I’m really excited to be (at the event),” owner Vicki Ueberroth said. “I think this is really fun, what East Lansing does — having the movie and the music. I’m happy to be a part of it and share my business with the community.”
Baidoon said she appreciates having the opportunity to purchase food at the event.
“Sometimes you can’t get everything together in order to bring something to eat, so it’s nice if you have the opportunity to purchase something,” Baidoon said.
Carlson hopes in addition to providing community members with a cheap dinner and a movie option, the event will encourage more people to explore East Lansing.
“We hope people come and enjoy the parks and come downtown and see what there is down here,” Carlson said.
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