Review of Cards Under the Stars – Summer Movie Series

My family and I attended our first outdoor movie of the season at the University of Louisville‘s campus. It’s called “Cards Under the Stars” summer movie series and it has family written all over it. It’s the third year that the University is hosting these events. The movies are held on Friday evenings on the Natural Science lawn on Belknap Campus (south end of campus.) My family and I had a blast!

We had already eaten dinner at home before we went, but next time we will pack a picnic and bring it with us. When we arrived lots of families were there and many had brought takeout or a packed dinner with them. Families were welcome to bring items such as lawn chairs, coolers, and picnic baskets. What I really loved was that it was a nice reasonable crowd. It wasn’t overwhelming with mobs of people everywhere. Families were sprawled out on blankets and lawn chairs just taking the night air in. It was a gorgeous night like we had back in early June!

There was a stage setup where a small band was playing live, mostly acoustic guitar and a singer. It was lovely music. There were a couple of bouncies and inflatables set up that the kids could partake in. No charge either! Loved that: so many times you go to these events and have to pay for 5-10 minutes of bounce time.

They also had a small area where little kids could win prizes playing duck pond and some volunteers were giving temporary tattoos. Others were walking around handing out coloring pages to the kids with crayons. A very nice lady was going around giving Louisville Cardinals cheek stickers to everyone. And they also had sidewalk chalk set around the pathways for kids to draw with. It was so very kid-friendly!

A vendor was selling bottles of water, Coke products, and boxes of popcorn, chips, and an assortment of ice cream treats, all for under $3. We let our daughter get an ice cream but we had brought our own drinks and Ziploc bags of prepopped popcorn.
We also had our baby with us, which I was unsure about how well he would do. There were plenty of other families there with babies too, so that made me feel a little better! It ended up being a pretty late night for him but we fed him at his regular time and he fell asleep in his car seat while the movie was playing.

Someone announced to the crowd about 15 minutes before they were going to start the movie. It started just a little after 9pm right as dusk started. The movie that evening was Puss in Boots, which lucky for us we had not seen yet so that was a plus. The movies were selected by a campus and community-wide vote. I had trouble finding the schedule and information about the event online, so I emailed a family member who works for UofL and she hooked us up with information about where to park, what to bring, etc. Free parking is available in the lot next to the lawn (enter through the main entrance on Third Street.) We parked in the lot behind the Speed School of Engineering (enter on Eastern Parkway.)

There are two remaining outdoor movie nights left on the schedule. They are Friday, July 13 (announced 7/12 that this has been cancelled) and The Muppet Movie (1979) will be playing. On Friday, August 3 you can catch The Lion King. You can arrive at 6:30 p.m. to claim your spot. Entertainment begins at 7:30 p.m. with the movie starting at sunset. The price=FREE!
They play the movie on the Natural Sciences lawn, which is across the street from the Speed School’s buildings on Eastern Parkway.

I highly recommend going to “Cards Under the Stars”! They’ll even let you in if you’re a UK fan! There are lots of outdoor movie choices in Louisville right now. You can just about see a free movie outdoors every weekend night through the end of summer! Check out LFF’s list and enjoy!

By guest contributor: Erin