Updated 2/21/23
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Can you imagine a more idyllic summer scene than watching open air movies at a drive-in theater? How about in a pastoral island setting, with classic red barns in the background and the beach just a mile or two away? That picturesque setting is available nightly at Oak Harbor’s beloved Blue Fox Drive-In.
Since 1959
Surviving the digitization of films, online streaming platforms, and even a global pandemic, this family-owned business has been a community favorite since 1959.
Get that feeling of cinematic nostalgia while enjoying first-run movies on the big screen, in the comfort of your own vehicle. Will you snuggle up inside with pillows and blankets, or bring your camp chairs and sit out in the summer air?
Choose your own experience! The Blue Fox is open year-round, and seven days a week in the summer.
Part of their long-running success is the diversity of entertainment available. There’s a lot more than movies going on at this drive-in!
Come early to get a good spot and have a bite to eat at the snack counter. Beyond the usual popcorn-and-candy fare, you’ll have your choice of pizzas, burgers, soft pretzels and much more.
Browse through tons of fun Blue Fox merchandise, since they also run a screen-printing business as well.
The Go-Karts open several hours before the movies roll, so you can tear around the track to your heart’s content before night falls. Likewise, the indoor video game arcade opens early so you can enjoy over 25 games and machines, win points and claim prizes. If you’re having too much fun to step out for the movies, no rush, the arcade stays open late.
When I was a teenager, my friends and I used to frequent the Blue Fox Drive In. Particularly as soon as anyone was old enough to drive, we’d pile as many kids into a car as we could and make the trip to the north end of the island, near Oak Harbor. In later years, we’d sometimes camp up at Cranberry Lake and make the much shorter journey from there. Better than trying to keep each other awake for the return journey south, which could get awfully late-or early rather-after a double or triple feature!
It was always good to get there a little early, because there were steps to take on arrival: pick out the best spot and get our parking angle just right, create a nest of sleeping bags and blankets, change into pajamas or sweatpants, and stock up on candy and popcorn. Everything had to be in place before the pre-show cartoons, so that we could commence with watching the movie or chatting through the entire thing. That’s the nice thing about a drive in, the atmosphere is great whether they’re playing a movie you want to see or not, and you won’t disturb anyone outside your car if you want to talk over it.
I have some very dramatic memories from our times there. Once a storm rolled in during a screening of M Night Shyamalan’s Signs, and you could feel the pressure building both in the movie and in the air. The first on-screen appearance of the aliens coincided so perfectly with the first in-person bolt of lightening, I think everyone there must have jumped. An even earlier memory is of a Star Spangled Banner feature that always screens just before the first feature. It is Blue Fox tradition that people honk and flash their lights at the conclusion of that reel, but the time it most stands out in my mind was seeing a film not long after the 9/11 attacks, and the opening movie credits pausing to wait, as the honking and clapping went on and on and on.
A big party in their backyard
The Blue Fox is family owned and operated, and that feeling really shines through when you’re there. Despite the impressive extent of the business (which includes go-carts, an arcade, and a screen-printing business as well as the drive in movies), you somehow simultaneously feel that you’re at a big backyard party.
Blue Fox’s most recent addition is a big hit with the adults. Introducing the Backlot Tavern, an open-air beer garden with 12 rotating taps. They also offer a wide variety of canned and bottled drinks, plus some appetizers not available at the snack counter. This area stays open as late as 11pm and is undercover for those drizzly evenings. There’s a great view of the movie screen and a TV in case you want to catch an important game.
Perhaps this feeling of a party is because the family also live on site, so they do essentially throw a big party in their backyard every night. There is sprawling farmland and classic red barns in the background, just to complete the feeling of nostalgia.
With very few of these classic drive-ins left anymore, our island community is so fortunate to have one of the greats. During the worst of the pandemic times this business was instrumental in keeping some version of many community events alive, screening video forms of local dance recitals, graduation events, and church ceremonies to a grateful audience watching safely from their cars.
It’s a tough market these days for any cinema, let alone one who still offers double and triple features for pocket money. So be sure to support this local gem if you get the chance, and show up hungry when you do!