Since the start of the pandemic, many movie theaters have been forced to close. Now drive-in movies have become much more popular. Some upcoming movies that are playing in San Diego this month are Coco, Onward, Hocus Pocus, and much more. 

Drive-in movie theaters have been around since 1933, and were especially popular in 1950ś-1960’s, but now with everyone looking for activities to do, Drive-ins are perfect because they are safe, and fun. 

The Westfield North County mall recently opened up a drive-in for people to watch movies and attend concerts from their cars. 

The concert tickets are 50 dollars per person and the movies are 25 dollars per car. 

The one thing that sets the Westfield mall drive-in apart from the others is its concerts; they allow people to still get to see their favorite musicians in concert, and many of the seats are already sold out. 

Some past concerts featured Chrisitan Hoff, the Best of Motown, and The Piano Men. Some upcoming concerts include music from Pink Martini, En Vogue, and a special Día de Los Muertos concert on Nov. 1 that feature La Santa Cecilia. 

At the Santee drive-in, when getting out of the car guests are required to wear a mask, and maintain social distancing. Each car has its own space in the parking lot, cars must be parked in every other space, and spots are first come first serve. 

Without being in an actual movie theater, noisy viewers will not disturb others, ¨The drive-in was definitely different, but I really liked it because I was able to be on my phone and laugh without being shushed by someone,¨ sophomore Vy Le said. Where did she go? What did she see?

¨The drive-in was so fun! The movie doesn’t even matter that much when you are with friends, and it is definitely safe with, or without COVID,¨ senior Nicole Dragos said. 

The Santee drive-ins are 13 dollars for adults, and 4 dollars for children.

Along with the Westfield North County mall drive-in, there are also others in Escondido, South Bay, San Marcos, Santee, and a special orchestral concert drive-in at the Del Mar fairgrounds happening from . 

Sophomore Raye Weatherford, went to an orchestral concert called Mainly Mozart at the Del Mar fairgrounds, ¨My favorite part about going to the concert was the lighting. Obviously the music too, but the colors changed every so often which was neat,¨ Weatherford said.  

From movie theaters to drive-ins people are finding ways to have fun while still being safe. Whether people go with a friend or family they still get the experience of going to the movies.