While pretty much every summertime experience – from festivals and concert tours, to fairs and backyard parties – has been cancelled or moved online this year, we’ve started to see the emergence (or reemergence) of drive-in and drive-thru experiences as a well-received substitution.
Things like immersive art shows, concerts, comedy shows, and movie theatres are up and running (or will be soon), the only caveat is that entry is on a BYOV – bring your own vehicle – basis. The idea behind it, of course, is that the confines of a car provide a safe space for you and members of your household to socially distance from others.
Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) have stepped up to offer drive-in and drive-thru experiences of all varieties. Judging from the way things are looking, these won’t be the last vehicle-facilitated experiences we’ll see throughout the summer.
Here’s what’s confirmed so far for the GTA and a few we hope will make their way here…
6 Drive-In and Drive-Thru Experiences In Toronto
1. Culture By Car: Immersive Vincent Van Gogh Exhibit
Toronto’s anticipated Immersive Vincent van Gogh Exhibit will arrive in town as planned despite COVID-19 – the way we’ll experience it has just changed slightly. Now, guests will be able to surround themselves with the art of the famous Dutch artist from the safe bubble of their car (or a member of their household’s car). From June 18 to 28, Gogh By Car will invite 14 vehicles at a time to drive into the Toronto Star warehouse to take in the light, sound, and digital projections of van Gogh’s iconic works. The experience was available on a first come, first serve basis, but sold out immediately.
The good news is that art-lovers can experience the exhibit by foot starting on July 1, thanks to enhanced safety measures and social distancing circles on the ground.
2. Drive-Thru Zoo: The Toronto Zoo’s Scenic Safari
The Toronto Zoo – Canada’s largest zoo – invites guests to get up close and personal with the lions, tigers, and bears (and more) housed within their property, from the socially distanced comfort of their own cars.
The zoo’s 45-minute guided Scenic Safari tour takes visitors through 3.4 kilometres of five of the zoo’s main pavilions. Guests won’t be able to leave their cars once inside, so make sure everyone uses the bathroom beforehand at the on-site facilities, and goes easy on the fluid intake. While the demand was so high for the Scenic Safari that ticket-seekers crashed the zoo’s website, new dates are expected to be released in the near future, so stay tuned – acting quickly will be key to securing your spot on this safari.
3. Drive-In Concerts In Toronto
Perhaps most crushing to Toronto’s live music lovers was the cancelations of those easy, breezy summer concerts and carefree music festivals. The good news is that Canadian indie band July Talk decided to take the lead to offer a live social distanced, drive-in concert this summer, becoming the first Canadian band to create such an experience (but hopefully not the last). Taking place on August 12 and 13 at a currently undisclosed drive-in theatre outside of Toronto, the show will involve a 90-minute live set broadcast via car radio that’s complete with a multi-camera feed on drive-in screens. More details – including the venue and ticket price – are expected to come soon. The concert takes place a month after the upcoming release of July Talk’s new album Pray For It, on July 10.
4. Comedy From The Car
Cities around the world are offering a much-needed dose of LOLs for a captive audience of comedy lovers in their cars. In Canada, Edmonton comedy club The Comedy strip has teamed up with the West Edmonton Mall and K97 radio to offer a drive-in comedy night to support the Edmonton Food Bank. The concept has gained quick traction in cities like Atlantic City, Phoenix, and even Anchorage, Alaska. A common theme is a car, and honks instead of laughs. In the absence of Toronto’s beloved comedy clubs, the only hope is that the drive-in comedy club concept will make its way to the GTA – YukYuks, we’re looking at you.
5. Drive-In Movie Theatres Near Toronto
The drive-in movie theatre – an increasingly rare sight in pre-COVID-19 times – is making a comeback in response to the pandemic. Throughout North America, shiny new drive-in theatres are opening their doors, while the older ones have new life breathed into them. We’ve even seen the big screen some pop up in parking lots. Ontario had been slower to get the green light of approval to begin operations, but are now cleared to operate. Toronto residents can enjoy a handful of COVID-19-ready drive-in theatres within a close(ish) distance to the city core, including Oakville’s 5 Drive-In, Newmarket’s Stardust drive-in theatre, or the Port Hope Drive-In.
6. Drive-In Dining
Could the drive-in restaurant make as big of a comeback as the drive-in theatre? For the younger generation perhaps in the dark, the 1950s-inspired phenomenon of a drive-in restaurant involves orders taken from your car (sometimes, at the retro-inspired joints, by servers on roller-skates) and eaten from your parked vehicle. In response to COVID-19, the drive-in restaurant is indeed resurfacing across the United States, as restaurants adapt to offer a nostalgic carhop service. Closer to home, dine-in restaurants could be an attractive option for existing restaurants with the parking lot real estate available to create them.
Whether the GTA will take a page from Germany’s book and take the drive-in concept a step above and beyond the expected to create a full drive-in rave (yes, that really happened) remains to be seen. In the meantime, we can expect some of the above experiences to add a bit of joy to the warmer months ahead.
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