Little Italy Open Air Film Festival Starts July 3

The Little Italy Open Air Film Festival begins for another year on Friday, July 3rd and runs through Friday, August the 28th. To put it simply, this is one of the absolute coolest summer events in the area and anyone living in Baltimore and the surrounding suburbs should make the trip to catch a movie during this festival, as this is definitely worth a drive to experience. There is no price of admission and movies are shown on a large screen affixed to the side of a building, with the image being projected across the parking lot and across Stiles Street from the house of John Pente, who is now in his mid nineties and can be seen sitting on either the stairs to his house or on the bench which sits aside his house. I have found Mr. Pente to be very nice when I have spoken briefly with him over the past several years. Make sure to wave or say hi as you walk by.

The best article I have read about this event, “Showtime Under the Stars in Little Italy”, was posted by Gary Gately on a Washington D.C. focused website. You can find his excellent article here, as well as some great photographs of the event. Notice the full moon on the second and third pictures of his article…..this event can be quite spectacular, dare I say even magical, when the moon is just right. It’s great for families, friends and this event is most definitely on the very short list of best date evenings in the area. Thank you for the excellent article Mr. Gately!

Little Italy Open Air Film Festival. Photo by Grant L. Gursky appears in an excellent article about the festival by Gary Gately on www.dcmetro.maryland.com

Opening night at the festival, which typically features Moonstruck, is usually the most crowded and, without question, the one night you should come to the festival if you plan to come just once. Opening night of the festival features the singing of both the American and Italian national anthems and a line-up and public applause for all the merchants, other businesses and people which help to make the festival possible. Other pre-movie festivities (both opening night and throughout the series) usually include live Italian music, free popcorn (donations accepted) and a 50-50 raffle. By the way, don’t be afraid….get your toosh up towards the front of the parking lot and join the other couples who occasionally get up dance to the live music.

I eagerly await this film festival, particularly opening night, for many months in advance. This has become an annual tradition which includes family members and friends of the family driving up from Washington DC and Annapolis. Make sure to patronize one of the restaurants in Little Italy when you come. To add to the European feel this event has, you can order take out and eat it in your chair while you wait for the movie to begin. In addition, you might want to stroll over to the bocce court and watch a game. A final Pizzablogger tip for first timers…..bring a bottle of wine and some plastic cups with you to enjoy as you watch the movie! Pizza eaters might want to order a pizza from Isabella’s Brick Oven Pizza, which sits on the corner of High and Stiles Streets.

Movie Schedule
July 03 Moonstruck (1987)  Not Rated
July 10 Ocean’s Thirteen (2007)  PG-13
July 17  Sleepless in Seattle (1993)  PG
July 24 On the Waterfront (1954)  Not Rated
July 31  Over the Hedge (2003)  PG
August 07  Johnny Stecchino (1991)  Not Rated
August 14 Roman Holiday (1953) R
August 21 Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)  PG-13
August 28  Cinema Paradiso (2003)  R

• Some Details and Tips
• Movies begin at 9pm. A classic Warner Brothers cartoon usually proceeds the movie
• Seats are provided inside of the actual parking lot where the screen is. The crowd ends up spilling far beyond the parking lot and you should bring your own chairs in case the parking lot area is filled up, which usually does so by 5:30 to 6:00pm.
• Try to arrive early, particularly on opening night. Some people arrive as early as 4:00pm to get a good seat. I would try to arrive no later than 6:30 to 7:00pm on opening night. If you arrive early and set up your chairs, you should be able to go look around, grab a bite to eat and have your chair waiting for you. I have never personally heard of or experienced someone complaining about a person showing up early to “stake their claim”, so to speak, but I wouldn’t abuse this practice either (like leaving your chair at 5:00pm only to show up just before the movie starts). Again, plan on coming early…in the past I’ve shown up as late as 9pm for this event and finding a place to plop my chair down was a challenge and I had to sit so far away that it was hard to hear the movie.
• Be aware that Stiles Street (as shown in the pictures below) is blocked off for the event in order to allow for seating. However, Stiles Street is kept open to traffic until about 4 or 5pm, so you cannot set up camp in Stiles Street until after that time. But if you are here this early, you may be able to get one of the prized seats inside the parking lot.
• In the second picture below, you can see a red line between the parking lot area and Stiles Street. This is an iron barred fence about five or six feet tall. The bars are placed far apart, but if you sit close enough to this fence your view may be partially obstructed. This area is one of the last to fill up with people. On my first visit here, six years ago, I watched the entire movie through the opening of this fence, had a partially blocked view and still had a great time–but starting coming much earlier afterwards
• Parking: Street parking will be tough to come by, but there are two parking garages in close proximity to the event. The Dodge Garage, at the Intersection of Pratt and President Streets (Route 83) and the Little Italy Parking Garage, entrance at the intersection of Exeter and Trinity Streets, are your best bets. In the first thumbnail picture below, the Dodge Garage is listed as “1″, the Little Italy Parking Garage is listed as “2″ and the event site is listed as “A”
• Seating:The second picture below shows the seating situation. The yellow area, “A”, is inside of the parking lot and are the best seats. Folding chairs are provided here, but people bringing their own chairs often pile in here as well during the earlier evening hours. If possible, it is worth sitting here. The green area, “B”, is where you must bring your own seat. As already mentioned, Stiles Street is closed to traffic around 5:00pm and will be completely filled with chairs and people by movie time. Additional people will usually set up shop across the intersection in front of Isabella’s Brick Oven Pizza, near the bocce court. The bocce ball court is listed as “1″ in the picture below.
• Bathrooms: There are porta-potties located in the parking lot, listed as “p” in the second photo below. These are installed just for the event and are clean. Restaurants may or may not allow non-paying customers to use their restrooms.
• Consideration: Please remember you are in a neighborhood which people live in. The movies end anywhere between 10:30pm to 11:15pm. Yes, it’s Friday night, but remember to be mindful as you walk back to your cars. Some residents of Little Italy have complained about this event, so let’s make sure to thank them for allowing us to enjoy ourselves by being respectful as we walk back to our cars, particularly if walking back to the Little Italy Parking Garage, which you must walk the quieter, residential streets of Little Italy to get to.

I will be here early to claim my usual spot in the parking lot and if you are lucky, I will probably have enough of my home made Limoncello (I just started a big batch of an improved recipe last night) and enough cups to give a taste to a good amount of fellow movie goers while enjoying one of the area’s most delightful ways to spend a summer evening. Again, try to patronize one of the restaurants in Little Italy in order to help keep this movie festival an annual tradition. Please make the trip to Baltimore and join us all for this wonderful event!

click on the thumbnail pics below for a larger image.