The Galileo open air cinema in Cape Town, which is the brainchild of long-time friends Huenu Solsona and Thomas Brauer, has potentially started to fill this gap in my life. Not an old school drive-in per se, but sure close enough... perhaps even better. The setting is simply magical with Table Mountain as the backdrop. I went to see Searching for Sugar Man there this week, and I could not imagine any better way to find him.
Solsona's inspiration for The Galileo came from an open air cinema she visited while living in Whistler, Canada, and she thought that it would be something that could work in South Africa. In 2005, she returned to South Africa and started her company, Adventure Boot Camp, at Kirstenbosch to provide an outdoor health and fitness programme for women.
With the outdoor cinema idea still at the back of her mind, she thought her boot camp venue to be the perfect setting. The idea was approved and The Galileo opened its 'doors' in November 2012.
"We basically wanted to create an environment where people could have a good time with mates in the middle of the week," adds Brauer. Apart from this, The Galileo is also popular for celebrations like birthdays and anniversaries and also corporate functions.
The two founders do have some exciting plans up their sleeve for the future. Not only will movies be shown three times per week (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursday), but The Galileo will also expand into the Northern suburbs as well as the City Bowl. The exact venues will however only be revealed at a later stage, but at least I got you a little excited now, right?
The cinema's open season is from November to April and it screens movies every Wednesday evening (for now) on the Marquee Lawn (enter from Kirstenbosch Gate 2). It showcases four different genres of movies to cater for four different types of people: All-time Classics, Documentaries, Best Foreign and Adventure Sports. Quite a lot of effort goes into selecting the movies which are screened, which allows for - literally - the best of the best.
There are four ticket options which will either give you a single entry (R60); entry and a blanket (R69); entry and a chair (R78); or entry, a blanket and a chair (R85). Own food and drinks are allowed, but there are also local food vendors that offer a wide variety of treats.
"I've loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night," said Galileo Galilei. Poor man had to spend his last years under house arrest. What a shame. Why would you? There are only three shows left before the season closes so go go go! www.thegalileo.co.za
