City's free family-friendly movies in the park returns Friday

Ravyn Cullor, The Hanford Sentinel, Calif.
·1 min read

Jun. 17—It's a long drive to see a drive-in movie, but you can see free movies in the park starting Friday, courtesy of the City of Hanford.

The Hanford Parks and Community Services department will offer a series of family-friendly movies in rotating parks in the city through the summer, said Director Brad Albert. He said the City pays for the licensing, blows up a movie screen and allows residents to watch for free.

"These are wonderful community events," Albert said. "Bring a lawn chair, bring your family."

The dates, movies and parks are as follows:

June 18: Trolls World Tour, PG, Civic Center Park

July 2: The Croods: A New Age, PG, Centennial Park

July 15: Onward, PG, Hidden Valley Park

July 30: Tom and Jerry, PG, Civic Center Park

Movies begin at dusk.

Albert said the movies are among other events the department is running this summer to help residents get back to "normal," including Thursday night farmers markets, swim lessons and summer camps.

"We're seeing a great surge of people wanting to get outside, wanting to recreate, wanting to be social again," Albert said. "People are really thirsty to return to some type of normalcy and that's great, we're happy they're coming back."

Despite concerns over heat, the department will likely go forward with Friday's movie because they don't like canceling events, Albert said. The National Weather Service forecasts a high of 111 degrees for Friday, but projects a drop in temperature starting around 6 p.m.

Information fliers for the event were misprinted, saying attendees must register at the Parks and Community Services office. Albert said that is incorrect and attendees can simply show up at the given park.