Pandemic sparks return  to drive-in entertainment

Steps were taken in the Czech Republic to curb the coronavirus pandemic emptied Prague’s concert halls, cinemas and theaters, forcing the entertainment industry to innovate, for example by launching a makeover of the drive-in movie theater with cultural overtones.

“The Art Parking festival has been going on for two weeks and we have screened between 25 and 30 films, plays and concerts,” producer Jakub Vedral told AFP.

 Upon arrival, viewers are handed  a receiver with headphones and a cable to connect it to the car radio, where they can follow the show live by lowering the windows.

The masked staff delivers menus and sells snacks and drinks to the public gathered in a municipal market or in an abandoned train station.

Vedral notes with satisfaction that the festival has offered work to people who would otherwise have had to stay at home. But he is happy that the festival is over when the government kicks off the misunderstanding on Monday and opens concert halls and cinemas. “We can continue for another two weeks. But it is really an emergency operation and we will be happy to resume cultural work without cars,” he said.

On Saturday, passengers in about 60 vehicles attended a concert by Czech hard rock group Znouzectnost, whose name means “Make virtue of necessity.”

“We have never done anything so exotic, playing for vehicles. It is an original experience,” the group’s drummer, Caine, told AFP.

Spectators honked their horns and played with the lights, clapped and waved their arms out the windows, and many of them had trouble maintaining safe two-meter distances. Young Martin Novohradsky, who traveled 80 km to attend the concert, was delighted.