We've all seen this hashtag on the internet. But has your town actually turned this into an event? Mine has.
One of the many reasons I love the city of Bethlehem is how devoted they are to the arts. There is a non-profit organization, ArtsQuest, who's sole mission is to provide "access to art, culture and educational programs for the diverse residents of the Lehigh Valley and others who seek access to our community." How freaking cool is that? And let me tell you, they do it big. Perhaps you've heard of Musikfest? It is the largest free music festival in the country. It is ten days log with thousands of acts. The city shuts down for the whole week and half, and is filled with stages and vendors. The city also allows open containers on festival grounds... a total game changer. But, I'm not here to talk about Musikfest right now.
I went to my first "Knitflix & Chill" event this weekend. ArtsQuest has a building on the huge Bethlehem Steel Stacks campus. Within this building, there is the Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas. It is comprised of two movie theaters, but they allow you to buy food, beer, and wine at the concession stand and bring it into the theater with you. They play a combination of movies that are currently in theaters and older movies. They are having "Hanksgiving" in the month of November and showing a bunch of Tom Hanks movies. I'm sold.
The first Saturday of every month, they hold a special "Knitflix & Chill" showing of a movie which is announced at the beginning of that week. This month was Judy with Renee Zellweger. I decided I would put my insecurities aside and partake in an event by myself. It was oddly freeing, and now I want to make it a point to do this every month. In order to make this showing inclusive to knitters, they keep the back row of house lights on and encourage you to bring your current WIP and a small book light. They let everyone know that the house lights wouldn't be as dark as normal before you bought your ticket, so no one was judging you or rude about the fact that I had a book light around my neck. There were a few other knitters in the audience. Let me tell you, this felt like the most productive two hours of my Saturday morning. I was able to sit and watch a movie on the big screen that I never would have gone to see. Not because I wasn't interested in it, but because I rarely go to the movies anymore. And I definitely never go by myself. But recently, I've been focusing on spending some time by myself and really embracing the quiet. Through this event, I got to embrace the quiet AND work on my knitting.
I wish every single movie theater did this. It really wasn't very disruptive to the other moviegoers. That one row of house lights that were on illuminated the back four to five rows of the theater. If you sat farther forward than that, you had the same exact movie experience as normal. But for those of us who have a hard time sitting in front of a screen and not doing something with our hands, this was perfect. I wish they did this more than once a month!
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