"Dirty Dancing" Drive-In movie at Clumber Park

I've never been to a Drive-in movie before though, obviously, I've seen them in various films and always thought they looked fun. Earlier this year, Clumber Park hosted "Grease" as a Drive-in movie but, sadly, I was busy and couldn't make it, so I was excited to hear that, following the success of that, there were to be more Drive-in movies.

Now, I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of "Dirty Dancing" - I quite like the big song at the end and there are a couple of moments in it that are ok, as well as a couple of genuinely funny lines, so I wasn't hugely excited at the choice of movie but, still, it was a Drive-in and I felt I had to give it a try (plus it's Dawn's all-time favourite movie!).

The movie started at 9 p.m. (gates opened at 6) so we arrived around 7 and drove through the park to the event field. Everything was very well organised with helpful staff directing you and making sure you had a good view of the screen.

The ticket price was per car (£21 ish I think) and you could have up to 5 people in the car for that - so it was a bit of a bargain.

I was very impressed by the huge inflatable screen.... but, as I keep being told, that's because I'm a bit of a geek!

There was already a bit of a party atmosphere when we arrived with lots of people who'd brought with them picnics. Others were dancing to the music being played through the PA.

If you hadn't brought your own food there was an impressive array of choices at concession stands: coffee, crepes, pizza, burgers, confectionary and a bar and they all seemed to be doing a roaring trade.

On arrival we were given a piece of paper with the frequency to tune the car radio in to (as well as being played through the PA it was also broadcast on FM) and pre-movie there was a DJ playing well-known songs from movies and reading out messages and dedications to a number of people who had birthdays or special reasons to be at the screening.

It was a chilly night but a number of brave souls stayed outside, well-wrapped in onesies or layers of jumpers and scarves, throughout the duration.

"Dirty Dancing" actually began 12 minutes early (I'm not sure why - and maybe I missed an announcement but, I guess, once everybody was in there was no reason not to start).

Throughout the movie there was a fantastic atmosphere and a real sense of community across the field - big cheers went up when characters snogged, and car horns were sounded and, of course, there was dancing.... lots of dancing - especially when "Time of our lives" began.

A few cars left immediately the grand finale began (why? Why watch a movie 95% of the way through and then miss the end?) - I guess they wanted to avoid traffic queues getting out of Clumber Park but, genuinely, there weren't any - it was so well organised with cars being dispersed in different directions that we were home within 40 minutes (and that's 25 miles away!).

A fantastic evening, really well-organised, with lots of fun. I do hope there will be more and have already seen a discussion on the Clumber Park Facebook page about suggestions for future movies. Personally, I'd go with more musicals: Joseph; Rocky Horror; The Sound of Music.

If you've never done a Drive-in movie before add it to the list of things you should do before you die - it's great fun!