Islip Town's drive-in movie series to return this summer

Settle into your car and grab the popcorn: Islip Town’s free drive-in movie series will return this summer.

The Islip Town Board unanimously approved the return of the series at the March 9 town board meeting hosted via Zoom.

This season’s films will be presented at various locations across Islip Town, including Byron Lake Park in East Islip, Anthony Casamento Park in Bay Shore, Gull Haven Golf Course in Central Islip and Holbrook Country Club.

The series, which will run from late June to Aug. 23, will feature an inflatable movie screen where a variety of new and old children’s movies will be presented. Viewers can tune in to a local radio station for the movie’s audio track. Films like “Big Hero 6,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” top the list.

The summer movie season will kick off with a showing of “The Princess Bride” at 8:40 p.m. on June 21 at Byron Lake Park.

“I love the idea that it’s an opportunity for families to come together,” town supervisor Angie Carpenter said. “More times than not, families haven’t experienced a drive-in movie.”

Carpenter noted that the town saw “tremendous success” with the series last summer after the pandemic struck.

“We thank Good Samaritan Hospital for sponsoring this event so that we can continue to offer it to our residents free of charge,” Carpenter said.

The town is expected to roll out its fall and winter drive-in series later this year, but a formal schedule has not yet been approved. A tentative schedule from the town indicates that “The Christmas Chronicles,” starring Kurt Russell, will be shown at Brookwood Hall in East Islip in early December.

In February, marketing and event production company Starfish Junction Productions also announced they were organizing a pop-up movie series at Westfield South Shore in Bay Shore earlier this month. The Movie Lot Drive-In series, which will show blockbusters and new release films outdoors on a 52-foot screen, will kick off April 9 with a double-feature of "The Croods: A New Age" and "Scream.”