Downtown Partnership Unveils CineBus, Summer Movie Series
The CineBus Courtesy Downtown Louisville Partnership
Louisville Downtown Partnership (LDP) unveiled the Downtown CineBus, a decommissioned ambulance that is now a mobile projection unit. Donated by Louisville Metro, the CineBus was borne out of committee work on the 2021 Downtown Revitalization Team. Now rebranded and retrofitted to include necessary equipment, the Downtown CineBus will be put into use by LDP and can be rented by the public to be used for art or laser shows, videos and more.
LDP also announced a new movie night series taking place in Downtown Louisville. The inaugural outdoor movie night series, called Downtown Drive-In, starts June 9. In collaboration with Waterfront Development Corporation, the film series will be hosted at Waterfront Park’s Brown-Forman Amphitheater, at 1301 River Road, playing family-friendly movies on select Friday nights through October. The event is free to the public with free parking available at Waterfront Park’s Tan and Turquoise lots.
“The Downtown CineBus was created as a new way to add vibrancy to Downtown streets through the arts, and we’re excited to launch it with our Downtown Drive-In movie nights,” said Rebecca Fleischaker, executive director of LDP. “Movie nights are a tried-and-true family pastime, and we hope that the Downtown Drive-in will bring people together to enjoy fan favorites on the big screen.”
The amphitheater will open an hour before sundown when the movies will start. Downtown Drive-Ins will include snacks and beer for purchase from local brewer Ten20 Craft Brewery. Movie-goers are also welcome to bring blankets and lawn chairs to the viewing. No tickets are required for the outdoor film screenings, but guests are encouraged to arrive early to save their spot. The Downtown Drive-In events are weather dependent.
“We are excited to celebrate the launch of this new project with Louisville Downtown Partnership,” Mayor Craig Greenberg said. “The CineBus will enhance our existing public art infrastructure by serving as a new vehicle for visual and performance art. Meanwhile, the Downtown Drive-In events will give residents and visitors another great reason to enjoy one of our city’s natural assets, Waterfront Park.”
The Downtown Drive-In schedule:
June 9 Shrek (PG)
June 30 The Parent Trap (1961) (G)
July 14 Black Panther (PG-13)
July 28 Encanto (PG)
August 11 A League of Their Own (PG)
August 25 Cars (G)
September 8 Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (PG)
September 22 Up (PG)
October 20 Hocus Pocus (PG)
The CineBus will be available to the public to rent beginning today. The vehicle will allow for pop-up art activations including projection art or laser shows and other programming opportunities.
“The Downtown Cinebus is a perfect example of how we can use art to facilitate community, something about which we are deeply passionate at the Fund for the Arts,” said Fund for the Arts President and CEO Andre Kimo Stone Guess. “Gathering under the stars for a good story is a tradition as old as humanity, and this new initiative is offering us even more creative opportunities to embrace art together.”
The Downtown CineBus would not be possible without the generous donations for the rebranding and retrofit from Owsley Brown II Family Foundation, Owsley Brown III Foundation, Brooke Brown Barzun Foundation, and Sociable Weaver Foundation, and the coordination of the project by projection artist Ryan Daly.
For more information about renting the Downtown CineBus, please visit louisvilledowntown.org/downtown-cinebus.
