Movies in the Park will bring double dose of fun this summer

August 6, 2026 · 0 Comments

The Town of Aurora’s Movies in the Park summer series will offer a double dose of family fun this month as the program expands to three nights of double features.

The curtain will rise on Movies in the Park at Town Park on Thursday, August 20, at 7 p.m., and continue each Thursday at the same time through September 3.

“Movie enthusiasts are invited to join us this summer as Aurora Town Park transforms into an outdoor cinema,” says the Town. “Bring a lawn chair or blanket, gather family and friends, and enjoy a double-header movie experience under the stars. With two feature films showing back-to-back. It’s the perfect opportunity to settle in for an evening of outdoor entertainment in a fun and relaxed setting. Arrive early to find the perfect spot and take part in the pre-show activities the movies begin.”

The double feature series is made possible through the rental of a new mobile LED screen this year, rather than relying on an inflatable screen and traditional projector as in years past, says Shelley Ware, Special Events Supervisor for the Town of Aurora. These screens eliminate the challenges that come with waiting for dusk for the movies to begin, and eliminate some of the other challenges that weather can sometimes present.

With these constraints out of the way, the Town decided to make the most out of it.

“It is a bigger investment to go this route, but we’re also investing in the community,” says Ware. “I think we were really limiting the audience and residents we could attract to this event with such a late start. We’ve eliminated a few more risks that were out of our control and we’ve really been able to focus the earlier movie time on the younger families in Aurora, and then it also enables us to have the slightly more mature movies starting at 9 p.m., and people are welcome to stay for both, come for one, or come to the other!”

Kicking off the film series on Thursday, August 20, under the theme of Pink Paradise Night – Think Pink, Live Aloha, are Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” at 7 p.m., followed at 9 p.m. by Reese Witherspoon’s “Legally Blonde.”

Still feeling the FIFA buzz, the August 27 theme is Game Night – Game Changers, featuring Will Farrell’s “Kicking & Screaming” at 7 p.m., followed by Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore at 9 p.m.

Ocean adventures are the order of the evening on Thursday, September 3, with Ocean Adventures – Beyond the Reef, Waves of Hope, featuring Disney-Pixar’s “Finding Nemo” at 7 p.m., followed by “Big Miracle” at 9 p.m.

“It’s definitely a gem to be discovered, and bringing it out here to Movies in the Park is a great way to see it on the big screen,” says Ware of Big Miracle, which is described as, “a family of gray whales is discovered near the Arctic Circle, a team rally an international coalition to save the whales before it’s too late.”

“Big Miracle was actually based on the real-life Operation Breakthrough and it’s such a good movie with some animation mixed in, some fantasy mixed in, and it’s environmental conscience tied in with some truth.”

Truth will also be in the numbers of this year’s Movies in the Park as the new screen set-up, expanded film options, and more, create new measures of success.

“I’m hoping there’s an increase in attendance and I also hope there’s a section of attendance that does the full double-header,” says Ware. “I’m also hoping attendance that comes for the 9 p.m. movie where clearly you see older people who have clearly gone out for dinner and now they’re catching our Movie in the Park.”

For more information about this year’s lineup, which is sponsored by Aurora Orthodontics and Desjardins Insurance, visit aurora.ca/moviesinthepark.

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter