Upcoming drive-in movie season uncertain for Jubilee theatre at Manitou Beach

The resort village owns the drive-in, while Hayden is the operator/manager so the decision to open would ultimately be made by village council.

“There will be those space restrictions, and concession restrictions, it is definitely going to be a change and we have to decide if it will be viable because people forget that it is still a business,” Hayden said.

She said as a result, she’s fielded a number of calls recently regarding the theatre.

“Some very unhappy people and people that think we are being ridiculous but the fact is that it is still a theatre and it falls under the theatre rules put in place by the province,” Hayden said.

The theatre normally opens for Friday and Saturday showings throughout June, and then moves to a Thursday to Sunday schedule for July and August.

“We are crossing our fingers that we may still be able to open in June but with those extra restrictions,” Hayden said.

On a first run movie, movie companies take the majority of the gate admission which Hayden said is just the nature of the business. Studios have also cancelled production and movies that were to come out in the spring and summer.

The options left for the drive-in along with other Saskatchewan drive-ins might be to simply only show previously released movies, and hope they can still bring in a profit on concession.

“I do also have to think of the safety of patrons and staff,” Hayden said. “We have to make sure that if we are able to open, it has to be safe so that no one is sick at the end of the day.”

In accordance with the SHA guidelines, all food needs to be in a closed container when it leaves the building.

“I don’t even know where we would get closed containers for popcorn,” Hayden said. “In the past we have done a car delivery service so maybe we could explore that again but it also meant another wage to pay and there were still some complaints of the folks that didn’t like it as much.”

Hayden said there has been an upswing for drive-ins in the past few years and this year would hopefully be no exception.

There would be tourism concerns this year as well that may reflect on how well the theatre does.

“In the summer the village grows so much because of tourism and really that is where their dollars come in,” Hayden said. “Some of the businesses here don’t know yet if they will open at all and that also impacts us at the theatre.”

The regional campground is able to open on June 1, but there is no way to predict how full or empty it will be.

“It could be that we would have to open seven days a week to try to make up some of the income but again if there aren’t any tourists around, it might not happen,” Hayden said.

There is a lot of equipment to be moved and preparations to be made for the big screen to light up for the season so it really does come down to when the phase four date is set.

The drive-in at Manitou Beach has been in operation since 1955, with this year marking the 65th anniversary.

The three other drive-in movie theatres in Saskatchewan are in Carlyle, Kyle, and Wolseley.

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angie.rolheiser@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Angie_Rolheiser

by Angie Rolheiser

Upcoming drive-in movie season uncertain for Jubilee theatre at Manitou Beach

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