We are big fans of any event that involves our favorite movies, drinking, food, and friends. So LA summer cinema events, such as Street Food Cinema (SFC) and Cinespia are a BINGO for us! Recently, we had the chance to check out SFC’s “La La Land Under the Stars,” at LA State Historic Park. This was our first summer movie event of the year so we went ahead and learned everything to do and not to do at your Summer Movie outings!

1. Get there EARLY! We promise you won’t regret it, there are so many benefits to arriving early especially if you are going for a movie you’re crazy about. Usually the ticket information will have detailed information about Uber/Lyft drop off spots and self parking prices and you will want to leave plenty of time for this as it usually requires patience, time, and walking. These events most likely will have some cool kind of picture opportunity, so it’s preferable to get there before it gets dark, as you can see we were teetering on the edge of day light but managed to get some photos in before the darkness! Arriving early also gives you the best opportunity to get your preferred spot for seating! SFC has options for reserved sections as well in case you don’t want to bother with the stress of finding a spot for your group (this is what we had and we loved it!). We also weren’t there early enough, but apparently there are bands before each movie as well, so if that’s your jam, pun intended, be sure to check out that lineup! Also, at SFC, if you couldn’t tell with food as part of the name, FOOD is a big thing here, so you will have ample time to go grab some grub and get settled, which brings me to winning point number 2!

   

2. Blankets, and pillows and chairs, oh my! Okay, so this event took place after our photoshoot with the Charmed Comb, which you can read about here, and we were still in full on princess mode.. If you couldn’t tell from our Disneybounds.. oops. As cute as we felt, dressing cute wasn’t ideal for being out in the cold and we learned from this pretty quickly. We brought 2 blankets and I threw in a pillow we had gotten from the Nylon Coachella pool party. While this was a good start, I don’t think it was enough by any means. Chairs would be my ultimate recommendation for staying comfortable during your movie, each company has their own guidelines as to what you can bring it but SFC allows you to bring beach chairs as long as they don’t rise over a certain amount of inches. This will be our go-to next time, and we will still throw in the extras, because DAMN did it get cold. Not only did it get cold, but it also started to get damp, meh. Sweats and sweatshirts are a definite must to staying warm, and don’t forget to throw in some alcohol (if you are of age) to help guide you through the night, bringing me to my third WIN.
3. Drink, Drank, Drunk. We all know you don’t HAVE to drink to have fun, but it sure does make things more interesting. Some of the events for SFC you can BRING your own alcohol, but for this venue that wasn’t allowed (super sad face). We started the night off with champagne but that quickly wore off on our Uber ride over to the park. Since most of these events allow you to bring your own alcohol, we suggest definitely doing that and not being jealous of the party next to you taking some swigs from a bottle. They also have alcohol for purchase, but we all know alcohol served at these events are so $$$$$. In the case that you are not allowed to bring alcohol to event, we suggest you plan accordingly with pre-gaming and Ubering to the event. As always, never drive drunk and be responsible! 
4. FOOOOOOD. While you can save some money by eating before or bringing your own food, an awesome part of SFC is being able to try all sorts of gourmet food trucks all congregated in one spot! So we suggest bringing your appetite and some money and chowing down on some delicious new food. Within our group we had Sushi Burritos, Brisket, and Carmel Corn (yum). Eating is totally part of the culture of these events so definitely be ready to show up with some or be ready to shell out some $$ in order to not have a grumbling stomach! We also suggest sitting near the side of the food trucks so you don’t have to wander too far to find food during the movie, especially in the dark… and especially if you’re a bit intoxicated. It will involve your friends franticly waving about during the middle of a dramatic scene trying to show you where they are.
5. Discounted tickets! Planning in advance has some huge benefits including getting cheaper tickets, which means you can spend more money on food! Our favorite deal is on Groupon, where you can get 4 GA tickets for $32, and 55% off season tickets! We hope to see some of you there soon!

Do you have any other summer movie hacks we missed? Let us know below in the comments! 🙂

* please see our disclosure page for more information about our use of affiliate links used on the site. Your clicks help us keep this blog up and running! We may be compensated for purchases made from these linked items, but all ideas are our own and are no way influenced by outside parties. Click here for more on our Disclosure policy.