Built-in Social Distancing at London's Float-In Cinema

After a very popular debut last September, the UK’s only float-in cinema is back, bringing waterborne, COVID-safe entertainment to London. Last year, the venue counted over 12,000 attendees in just a span of four weeks. The float-in cinema experience is set to return to the Regent’s Canal this spring.

"We are so excited to be back for the second year with the UK's first-ever float-in cinema," said James Greenhalgh, co-founder of Openaire. "It’s not easy to pull off an event of this scale, especially during a global pandemic, and for us, our joint number one priority is to ensure Londoners can enjoy themselves when they need it most in a safe and secure way.’’

Rather than parking their cars, boat ticket holders will hop aboard to captain their ship on a 45-minute journey up the Regent's Canal to Little Venice before docking in Merchant Square in front of the big screen. There will also be 100 waterside deckchairs available.

The line-up of movies for this year’s event include Jaws, The Dark Knight, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Hook, Notting Hill, Dirty Dancing, Pretty Woman and The Sound of Music. Audiences will be invited to sing along at screenings of Bohemian Rhapsody and Grease.

Deckchair seats start at about $25, with boats seating eight costing $340. The ticket sale went live on May 4 and will be running through June 2.

The concept is the first for the UK, but has also been tried in other locales, including Paris, Manila and – nine years ago – a film festival at Thailand’s Kudu Island.