okay so every once in a while a story crosses my feed that makes me want to drop everything and get in a car. this is one of them. There's an old-school drive-in theater in Colorado, the Holiday Twin Drive In, that's still out here showing brand new releases on outdoor screens, and the price is apparently surprisingly affordable, which feels like a small miracle in the year 2026. I've been thinking about it since I read the piece.

If you've never been to a drive-in, the vibe is exactly what you'd hope. You pull in, you park facing a giant screen, you tune your radio to the audio channel, and you watch a movie under actual stars. Not the fake kind. The Holiday Twin has two screens, so you get a double feature situation, which is straight up the most beautiful phrase in entertainment.

The part that got me: whatever they're charging, it counts as surprisingly affordable per the writeup, which is not a phrase anyone uses about movie tickets anymore. Compare that to what I wrote a few weeks ago about how movie tickets in general have gotten kind of impossible to get and kind of expensive too, and suddenly a double feature under the sky feels like a heist. In a good way. Check their site for exact prices before you go because I'm not going to quote you numbers I can't verify.

The Holiday Twin is up in Fort Collins, and it's been running for decades. Like, this thing predates most of the people reading this. It survived the whole "drive-ins are dead" era, survived streaming, survived everything, and it's still booking new releases. The concession stand is doing real popcorn. People bring lawn chairs and set up next to their cars. Kids in pajamas. The whole thing.

I have a soft spot for this stuff and I'm not gonna pretend otherwise. My grandma used to drag me to revival screenings and weird little independent theaters when I was a kid, and she taught me early that WHERE you watch a movie is half the movie. A New Hope in IMAX 70mm is going to be a pilgrimage next year for exactly that reason. A drive-in double feature in Colorado is the same energy, just with more bug spray.

The timing on this, though. We are heading into the best stretch of the year for it. The weather cools down, the sun sets earlier, and the fall slate is stacked. You could literally watch a new horror movie from the back of a pickup with a blanket and a thermos. Tell me that's not better than seat 14 row F with someone's phone brightness at full blast two rows up.

The one catch, and there's always one, is that drive-in season is finite. These places typically run spring through fall and then the screens go dark for winter, so double check their schedule before you drive out. If you're in Colorado or you know someone who is, this is a "this weekend, not next month" situation. Bring layers because Colorado at night is no joke, and get there early because the good spots fill up.

Also worth saying: places like this don't survive on vibes alone. The Holiday Twin keeps going because people keep showing up. Every ticket is basically a vote for this format continuing to exist. Same reason I get loud about physical media and 4K releases and actual theaters in general. The stuff we love only sticks around if we pay for it.

Anyway. Adding "drive-in night at the Holiday Twin" to the bucket list, right under the A New Hope IMAX screening and probably above like half the streaming queue I keep not finishing. Two screens, one sky, double features. Go before it gets cold.