Summer activities should offer exciting, fun and welcoming opportunities to cool off. Thanks to California State University, Northridge’s Associated Students (AS), moviegoers can experience free entertainment in a relaxing environment on the lawn in front of the Delmar T. Oviatt Library.

Starting June 7, students, faculty, staff and members of the community have an opportunity to attend free weekly movies on campus.

CSUN’s AS Productions has hosted the CSUN Summer Movie Fest since 2011. In order to attract a range of movie fans, they look at what’s been coming out, what’s been popular and “try to build anticipation for the new film that’s coming,” said Kira Ann Paczkowski, AS program coordinator.

“This year, we’re showing Get Out. That’s our thriller this year,” said Paczkowski. “We’re really excited about that, [as well as] Wonder Woman and Black Panther. For big blockbuster movies like Black Panther, [we] expect a crowd of over 2,000 people. There should be about 500 people for older movies [like Dirty Dancing and Hairspray].”

In the past, AS featured Princess Belle as a special guest during a showing of Beauty and the Beast. This year, AS plans to display a DeLorean for the Back to the Future showing, as well as featuring more photo opportunities and a photo booth during certain movies throughout the summer.

Going on its seventh year, the movie series takes place every Thursday at dusk, starting June 7. There will be an array of amenities such as food trucks starting at 5:30 p.m., live entertainment, vendors, games and activities, including lawn games such as Connect 4, Jenga and Cornhole.

Attendees can also enjoy a raffle co-sponsored by the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission. Attendees who bring items such as clothing, school supplies or toiletries will receive raffle tickets. Raffle prizes will correspond with the theme of the evening’s movie.

Participants enjoy Summer Movie Fest because it brings the whole family together, Paczkowski said. AS provides a variety of movies for various ages including musicals, ’80s films, action and adventure films.

“[This is] a really great opportunity for the community to come out. It’s a free event — you can bring your family, dog [on leash] and your kids,” Paczkowski said. “It doesn’t matter if you are a CSUN student. You can be faculty [and] staff. It doesn’t matter who you are, you can always come out to CSUN Summer Movie Fest and hang out for a couple hours during the summer on the Oviatt lawn. It just builds community. Even from a staff perspective, it helps our team build community.”

The 2018 CSUN Summer Movie Fest lineup includes:

June 7 – Back to the Future

June 14 – The Incredibles

June 21 – Coco

June 28 – Princess and the Frog

July 5 – Wonder Woman

July 12 – Black Panther

July 19 – Monsters, Inc.

July 26 – Star Wars: Last Jedi

Aug 2 – Hairspray

Aug 9 – Dirty Dancing

Aug 16 – Jumanji 

Aug 23 – Get Out

For more information, please visit Summer Movie Fest.

CSUN Associated Students, Delmar T. Oviatt Library, San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission, Summer Movie Fest