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Hello Bend! Munch and Movies debuts this Friday at Compass Park in Northwest Crossing. This is a fun event for the family and runs every Friday August 19 through September 9. As the name implies, it is an outdoor movie shown in the park. This year the line-up includes Zootopia, Guardians of the Galaxy, Inside Out…
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…and Star Wars, The Force Awakens!
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For our first visit last year, coming off the Munch and Music series, we were expecting a similar event in a smaller venue. The titles of the events are very similar, however they are actually very different. Not a bad difference, it’s just nice to be prepared.
Compass Park is much smaller then Drake Park, so the event fills up FAST! If possible, make it down on the earlier side and set up your low-profile chairs and lay out the blanket for the kiddos. The event starts at 6:00 and by the time we arrived we were struggling to find a spot. I would recommend claiming your spot a couple hours early. You could even go grab a bite to eat and head back over as the start of the event or the movie approaches.
Speaking of food, due to the size of the venue, you will only find a handful of food vendors available at Munch and Movies. We found it best to visit the website to make sure there is something the kiddos would like, or feed them in advance. A couple other ideas are to bring a picnic with dinner or snacks (there were lots of coolers around), set up your spot and grab a bite to eat at one of the awesome NWX restaurants, or even grab a pizza from Bend Pizza Kitchen just down the road to enjoy during your movie.
It’s worth mentioning, that unlike Munch and Music which has several Deschutes Brewery “libation stations”, there is no alcohol for sale at this event. As a matter of fact, alcohol is not allowed in any of the city parks unless a permit is issued.
The event begins at 6:00, with the movie starting at dusk. There are a couple of bounce houses, but nothing on the scale of what you will find at Munch and Music, which leads to longer lines if you can believe that! The bonus of this location is there is a play scape at Compass Park, which is FREE!
Now, this probably goes without saying, but we didn’t bring enough layers for our first movie and it gets COLD once the sun goes down. Also, I wore flip-flops which led to frozen toes…Oops! Be sure to bring your hoodie or puffy and a blanket to cozy up with.
So, that’s our take on Munch and Movies with a few tips along the way. Did I miss something that you found helpful? Please leave me a comment and I will add it to the list. I always love hearing feedback and other ideas!
We look forward to seeing you in front of the big screen and under the stars…Living the Bend Life!
We are brand new to the area. This is great information that I might not have thought of otherwise! Hope to make it to at least one with all of my kiddos and husband in between unpacking!
Hello Merry-I am glad you found the post helpful. It is everything I wish I had known during our first Munch and Movies last year. We actually ended up leaving the first time because we couldn’t find a spot and didn’t have food for the kids. Hope you enjoy and welcome to Bend!