Flix in the Stix

I was lucky enough to win two tickets to Flix in the Stix with thanks to Arts North West.  It was quite a drive for us to get there and back with dropping off kids and picking them up too, but I was really excited by the concept of open air cinema.

Nan babysat the children again while Colin and I set forth with picnic and chairs, the below photo shows the view from our seats.  I like the idea of the yellow ticket bean bag area but once the show started I don't feel like I missed anything from where we sat.

 

I didn't realise how much effort the sponsors put in to the running of this show.  Optus had free popcorn all night for everyone in big tubs and had a game console set up in a van on a big screen to entertain any children who might not enjoy the short films.  I ate more than my fair share of popcorn, thanks Optus!  They had Fruit Tingles too.

NRMA had free coffee and Lindt chocolates and their van was kept busy.  It was really good coffee and if you know me you will know I love coffee so this was very exciting for me!  I drank a few and lost track of how many chocolates I ate.

Commonwealth Bank did a fantastic job with glow sticks, lolly pops and inflatable foot/back rests perfect for outdoor movies.  They had a giveaway too and my name came out of the barrel, lucky me!

A surprise, fantastic find for the night was Little Creatures Brewery. It is a shame we both had to drive home or I could have sat there all night drinking beer.  The Bright Ale was fantastic and I can say it is one of the BEST BEERS I have had.  I will be doing a search and looking for this next time I need beer.

Obviously the beer was not free, but everything else mentioned along with bottled water was so this makes the tickets really good value for money.

 

I loved James Reyne, such a talented Aussie act and fantastic to listen to. He sang 'The boys light up', 'Hammerhead' and 'Reckless' among others.  I think I am becoming addicted to live music!

Aussie bush poet Murray Hartin  provided the other part of the live entertainment.  He performed 'Turbulence' and 'Rain from Nowhere' with a few others.  So much talent in the line up for the night.

My only complaint, and I feel like it is a big one, is that it was billed as family friendly entertainment but the first short film shown had adult themes and I would have been horrified if my children watched it, I don't know what the rating would have been but I would put it at an M as there was 'F word' swearing and a man got shot in what I consider to be a fairly graphic way.  For an event to be billed as family friendly I would have expected it to be PG.  Maybe that is just me?

All in all, I do plan to go back next year as this really was a great event and the Mr and I had a lot of fun, but I won't be taking the kids, even if they would love the glow sticks and popcorn.