Eleven days of open-air cinema will take place in the shadow of St Albans Cathedral this summer with The Greatest Showman and Bohemian Rhapsody among the films to be screened.
The St Albans Film Festival is back for another year with a jam-packed schedule of cult classics, family favourites, and blockbuster movies.
This is the sixth year festival organisers have catered for movie lovers in the city, and this year’s theme is ‘Classics’.
The 2019 festival will run from Tuesday, June 25 to Sunday, July 7.
Demand for open-air cinema has prompted organisers to increase the festival’s outdoor screenings in the Abbey Orchard from six days to 11 days, with 17 movies in all being shown.
The open-air cinema in the grounds of St Albans Cathedral will take place from Wednesday, June 26 to Saturday, July 6.
The festival programme includes The Greatest Showman / Singalong and Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
Tickets go on sale at 9am on Monday, March 11.
Hugh Jackman’s huge musical smash about circus innovator P.T. Barnum will be screened on Saturday, June 29.
You can join in with This Is Me and The Greatest Show at a screening starting at 10am.
Bohemian Rhapsody will rock the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Albans on the final night of the open-air cinema season on July 6 at 8pm.
Telling the story of rock legends Queen, the movie features an Oscar-winning performance by Rami Malek as legendary singer Freddie Mercury.
Festival director Matt Bigg said: “We cannot wait to bring the Abbey Open-Air Cinema to St Albans once again, in the beautiful Cathedral grounds, in what’s known locally as the Abbey Orchard.
“Our theme is classics, and we will be showing something for everyone: a ‘chick flick’, a family film, a teen movie, and a mother and toddler screening.”
Matt, festival director along with Leoni Kibbey, added: “We think this must be the most stunning location for an outdoor cinema in the UK and are very grateful to the Cathedral for supporting this event.”
Other films in the St Albans open-air cinema 2019 programme include Gladiator, Romeo and Juliet, Grease singalong, Shawshank Redemption and Silence of the Lambs.
Ridley Scott’s epic Gladiator, featuring an Oscar-winning performance by Russell Crowe, will be the first movie screened outdoors this summer on June 26 at 8pm.
Romeo and Juliet can be seen the following night, while fans of romantic musical Grease will be able to watch John Travolta as Danny Zuko and Olivia Newton-John as Sandy – and sing Summer Nights – on Saturday, June 29 at 8pm.
Anthony Hopkins will be chilling audiences as Hannibal Lecter in psychological horror-thriller Silence of the Lambs on Tuesday, July 2 at 8pm.
There will also be a double bill of Trainspotting 1 and Trainspotting 2 on the evening of Friday, June 28.
A range of food and drink stalls will once again provide refreshments so festival patrons can pop open a bottle of bubbly on a balmy summer night to enjoy with their movie.
As well as at the Cathedral, other films will be shown at The Alban Arena, which will host the festival’s launch party featuring a screening of cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
The Godfather and The Godfather 2 will be shown in The Pudding Stop as part of the festival, with more film-themed events to be announced shortly.
The St Albans Film Festival’s lead sponsors this year are University of Hertfordshire (UHArts), Willmott Dixon, Oaklands College, Dylans, Stowe Family Law, The Alban Arena and St Albans Cathedral.
What movies are being screened at the 2019 St Albans Film Festival?
St Albans Cathedral Open-Air Cinema programme:
June 26: Gladiator
June 27: Romeo and Juliet
June 28: Stand By Me
June 28: Trainspotting 1 and 2 - double bill
June 29: The Greatest Showman / Singalong
June 29: Raiders of the Lost Ark
June 29: Grease Singalong
June 30: Film TBC
July 1: Film Shawshank Redemption
July 2: The Silence of the Lambs
July 3: Withnail and I
July 4: Jerry Maguire
July 5: All Is Lost + Live Musical Score by Animat
July 6: Smallfoot
July 6: Lady and The Tramp
July 6: Bohemian Rhapsody
• For more on the film festival, visit www.stalbansfilmfestival.com
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