Having been closed for more than four months during lockdown, it’s time for the Strand Arts Centre to go Back to the Future.
The East Belfast venue re-opens to the public today. Last night there was a special screening for the local community of the 1985 classic about a time-travelling DeLorean.
Back to the Future is just one of a number of classic and recent releases that the Strand will screen in the coming weeks. Other family favourites include Trolls World Tour, The Greatest Showman and The Empire Strikes Back. The first big new release will be Disney’s Mulan, scheduled for 19th August.
Strand Arts Centre CEO Mimi Turtle said she was thrilled at the prospect of welcoming people through the doors once again.
“Since March we have continued to engage with our audiences by providing weekly arts and crafts workshops, music and comedy online. But nothing beats having customers coming into the building so that will be very exciting.
“We’ve had a deep clean, steam clean, some improvements to our sound and projection quality, and now it’s last minute touches to the paintwork. We’re nearly ready and hope our audiences are too.
“And we wanted to do something just before we open to bring the local community together. It’s been a very tough few months for our local traders and artists. I hope this special screening will help to rally everyone and get East Belfast back on its feet again.”
As with other venues, Strand Arts Centre has introduced plenty of measures to provide a safe and fun cinema experience. As well as a ticketing system that blocks off other seats around you, staff will be wearing movie-themed face coverings made especially for the Strand by local volunteer Emma McCrory.
“I live and work close to the Strand,” said Emma, “but I love sewing, knitting and crocheting in my spare time. I had already been working with Masks 4 All Ireland on providing masks for hospitals and care homes, but I wanted to do something for my local cinema and arts centre. I got involved with the UK-wide Big Community Sew, led in Northern Ireland by Angeline Murphy who was a contestant on the Great British Sewing Bee, and I created over 50 masks for the Strand, featuring characters and designs from Star Wars, Harry Potter, Marvel and older classics.
“I think we can safely say that we have some of the best face coverings out there,” said Mimi from the Strand. “We are so grateful to Emma for the many days that she spent to make them. What a lovely gesture. I was initially concerned as to what our staff might think of the idea of wearing face coverings, but they could not be happier at the prospect of greeting our customers sporting masks inspired by the movies!”
For more information on the Strand’s re-opening line-up, visit www.strandartscentre.com.