Field Of Technicolour Dreams

t hardly needs to be said but, if you’re going to dream, you might as well dream big.

And that’s exactly what St Patrick’s National School did when it came to their fundraising event for 2021.

This Friday, Saturday and Sunday, they’re hosting the Greystones Drive-In, in a dirty big field over in Kilquade with the largest screen that Wicklow has ever seen.

We’re talking 45sq feet, people – which should help make those dinosaurs in Jurassic Park look life-size as they stomp through Grattan Evans’ 12 acres. Securing such a Feck Off screen is the work of Kyle O’Connell, the big cheese at Irish Film & Television Services and also, by happy coincidence, chairman of the St Patrick’s PTA.

Having taken the gamble that the lockdown lifts would be working in their favour come the June weekend of the 11th, 12th and 13th, the school started putting together their ambitious drive-in months ago, securing well in advance the blockbusters largely chosen by the schoolkids (with a parent fave or two thrown in) whilst also pulling together ten other schools to share the love. And the box-office.

The schools involved beyond St Patrick’s are Temple Carrig Secondary School, Greystones Community National School alongside their neighbours in Delgany, St Kevin’s, St Laurence’s and Educate Together, plus St Fergal’s in Bray, Powerscourt National School in Enniskerry, Wicklow Educate Together Secondary School in Wicklow Town, and the East Glendalough Secondary School. In a sweet touch, when buying a ticket for any film, you can choose which school to support at checkout.

And when we met up with St Patrick’s principal, Rachel Harper, over at the drive-in site in Kilquade today, she was quick to point out that their sponsors deserved a major thank you too. So, take a bow, Just Eat, Spirit Burton Cars, Derek Byrne Property Consultants, Camile Thai, ITCO Laptop Repairs, Fleetwash, Claims Planet, Spintelligent, Access Automation, EBS, Shoe Lane and Ciara’s Kitchen. You’ve done yourselves proud.

And in the case of Just Eat, they’ve gone above and beyond, giving away discount vouchers which can be used on their app for local restaurants such as Buoys Kitchen, Camile Thai and Daata, either for a pre-screening family meal or an after-movie treat.

Oh, and let’s not forget the films! Screening on Friday 11th at 6pm, Jurassic Park is joined by The Greatest Showman on Saturday at 1pm and Top Gun at 6pm whilst on Sunday, it’s the live-action version of The Lion King at 1pm followed by the all-singing, all-dancing, all-naff Footloose at 6pm.

With a family car just €30, it’s a cheap (and dry) night under the stars, watching the Hollywood stars. And all for 11 good causes.

But hey, enough of our yakking. Over to Rachel to get the lowdown on this technicolour hoedown….

Happening in that great big Kilquade field, you can find out more about the Greystones Drive-In here, or go hit their main website right about here.