The Arts Campus at Willits and Crown Mountain Park are teaming to keep arts and culture alive through the COVID-19 crisis.
They will set up a temporary drive-in venue to screen the film, “Havana Moon: The Rolling Stones Live in Cuba” on June 19.
“Like every arts organization in the country, we’ve been trying to reimagine how to do what we do,” Ryan Honey, TACAW executive director, said Wednesday.
TACAW’s board came up with the idea of a drive-in, building off the resurgence the venues have had elsewhere in the country since the coronavirus reoriented life.
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They approached their contacts at Crown Mountain Park in El Jebel, and they embraced the concept. The drive-in will be established in a field owned by the U.S. Forest Service and used by the park for vehicle parking during large events.
The audience will be limited to 150 vehicles with a fee of $10 per vehicle. TACAW secured a 40-foot-by-22-foot screen, so there will not be a bad seat in the house. Cars won’t be packed in and people will be required to stay put except to go to the bathroom.
“It seemed like the obvious social-distancing solution,” Honey said.
The Rolling Stones historic concert in Havana seemed like a potentially popular draw. It is a celebration of the iconic band’s first performance in Cuba.
“What’s going to sound good coming out of an FM radio is rock and roll,” Honey said. “The level of excitement is high.”
The event is being dubbed “Let’s Spend the Night Together with the Stones at the Drive-In!”
Tickets will go on sale May 26 at TACAW.org. Gates will open at 7:45 p.m. The film starts at 8:45 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to stop at partnering restaurants and get take-out dinner for the event.
Other events are being planned with TACAW with Crown Mountain Park.
“We don’t envision this being a one and done,” Honey said.
TACAW is also progressing on its plans to build a permanent venue in the midvalley. It is working on its building permit with the town of Basalt for its performing arts center in Willits. Groundbreaking is anticipated in June.