City Drive-in Cinema: Lycabettus Hill

Hands up if you’re old enough to remember drive-ins the first time around? The sticky caramel popcorn, the dodgy sound, your folks letting you wear your PJs for when you conked out in the back seat half-way through the main feature? Admittedly, drive-ins never really caught on here in Greece after appearing in the 70s. Weather like ours, open-air cinemas have always been far more our bag. But thanks to pandemic culture, they’re now staging a nostalgic comeback in Athens this summer. New drive-ins have just popped up in Athenian suburbs like Haidari and glitzy Glyfada, with more expected. Downtown, you can take your wheels up to one of the city’s most emblematic lookouts, Lycabettus Hill, throughout June, and safely enjoy a socially-distanced Hollywood movie, a live concert or stand-up comedy, as part of the City Drive-in Cinema festival, curated by Cinema Alive. And yes. There’ll be popcorn too (along with frozen cocktails, nachos and other spot-on movie snacks). We can't tell you the line-up yet (Athenians are very last minute!). But check-in to the Cinema Alive website or facebook page for pending announcements about what's on the bill.