Alexandria Drive-In Ceases After Last Movie This Weekend

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The Alexandria Drive-In, a movie series launched to provide safe entertainment during the COVID-19 pandemic, will shut down after the last movie this Saturday, July 17.

The drive-in, founded by ALX Community and The Garden in 2020, hosted thousands for movies at 5001 Eisenhower Avenue. After an initial six movies sold out in late August to early October, the Alexandria Drive-In built on the success with encore series in late 2020 and again in 2021. Food truck vendors were also available for purchases on site.

Not only have the movies provided socially-distant entertainment for families, but funds have benefited local charities. Funds from tickets have benefited ATHENA Rapid Response Innovation Lab, Volunteer Alexandria, Boy Scouts of America, Jireh's Place, the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria, Act for Alexandria, and National Breast Cancer Foundation. According to the Alexandria Drive-In website, it has donated over $150,000 to local charities.

The decision to end the drive-in movies came as normalcy returns and people start going back to indoor movie theaters. The announcement was made in late June.

"The Alexandria Drive-in was founded at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to entertain and bring people together, even as we maintained our distance," the website states. "As vaccination numbers rise and we are, thankfully, able to return to our new normal; celebrating in person with friends and families, attending events, and even going back to movie theaters, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue the Alexandria Drive-in after July."

The Alexandria Drive-In website thanked various partners for their contributions: ALX Community for creating operations and procedures, University Mall Theatres in Fairfax for guidance to obtain film licenses, and Goodfynd for being the food truck and ticketing partner. The drive-in encourages moviegoers to consider visiting University Mall Theatres, a locally-owned theater with discount movies at 10659-A Braddock Road in Fairfax.

The last Alexandria Drive-In movie will be "Shrek" on Saturday at 9 p.m. The price is $40 per car. Food truck ordering will be available through Goodfynd.

For tickets, visit www.alexandriadrivein.com.