Fiesta going digital, year-round

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Fiesta Drive-In marqueeThe Carlsbad NM Current-Argus (what a great name for a newspaper!) recently wrote that the Fiesta Drive-In there has completed its digital changeover and will be operating year-round.

According to the lengthy article, one of the three screens will be showing double features, and there are plenty of daily specials including Thursdays as Carload night.

Fiesta owner Zach Rogers said, “We really need the support of the community to help us. I just like to see people come out and enjoy themselves, especially with their families.” There’s a lot more, so go check it out.

Lots of coverage for the Cottage View’s final weekend

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Cottage View marqueeI guess they really did enjoy the Cottage View Drive-In (Cottage Grove MN) in the Twin Cities, because there were all sorts of folks covering its final operating weekend.

KAAL, Austin MN’s news leader, had a short report that included a couple of minutes of video but misspelled Walmart, which will build on the Cottage View site.

The South Washington County Bulletin, Cottage Grove’s hometown newspaper, ran a much longer retrospective with a few photos of the final weekend. One patron joked, “It sounds like a Joni Mitchell song. They paved over a drive-in and put up a Walmart.”

Finally, even Minnesota Public Radio got into the act, talking with the author of a history of Twin Cities cinema. MPR’s audio clip is embedded below. Bye, bye, Cottage View!

Cape Breton might have final weekend

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Cape Breton sunsetThe Cape Breton Post reports that the Cape Breton Drive-In (Nova Scotia) will open for its final weekend of the season this season. It quotes the guy who operates it as saying that the drive-in has been losing money for 10 years, and might not reopen next spring. It faces the now-typical need for digital projection equipment and the less-typical need for a new screen. (Do digital projectors need different screens?)

A look at Google Maps suggests that this isn’t one of those drive-ins that’s in danger of surrendering to a Walmart or condo development, but I suppose you can’t just keep losing money. The article says the Cape Breton might hold some fundraisers to get enough to pay for the equipment and stuff. Here’s hoping.