The Swingin' Midway Drive-In Theater In Tennessee Is The Perfect Place For A Family Night Out
By Meghan Kraft|Published June 27, 2020
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Meghan Kraft
Author
Meghan Kraft loves to travel the world, but she makes her home right here in Nashville, Tennessee. She holds a degree in English, and has worked in the digital marketing realm with companies such as Apartments.com, USA Today and HarperCollins Publishing.
There’s nothing better than a trip back in time – by way of a drive-in movie theater, of course! An old movie with a good friend, a date night with heaps of popcorn, the laughter of your kids as the screen flickers in the distance. Swingin’ Midway Drive-In Theater is located in Athens, Tennessee, and it remains one of the few open in the entire Volunteer State. If you’re looking to relive the good ol’ days, then you just might want to head to Athens this weekend. Learn all about it below!
There's nothing more incredible than a date night out and about in the summertime beauty of Tennessee. The fireflies start to flicker and small-town southern communities of the state come alive with outdoor grill-outs and activities. In Athens, the locals head to the Swingin' Midway Drive-In Theater.
The Swingin' Midway Drive-In Theater is open weekends from April to October, and shows a series of movies on a pre-released calendar. There's a concession stand that sells everything from a jumbo double cheeseburger to slices of pizza and buckets of popcorn, and there's even a loaded nacho option that's sure to keep you full from the trailers to the credits.
The drive-in opens at 7:30 p.m. and showtime begins promptly at dusk. You'll want to make sure you visit the snack bar before the movie begins, of course!
Adults are admitted for $7, children for $5 if they're under the age of 12, and kids under the age of 4 can visit for free. You can come early and let the kids play on the playground and get their wiggles out before the show.
No outside food or drinks are allowed, but please make sure to come and order from the snack bar. Concessions provide the largest return for the country's drive-in theaters, and your purchase helps keep the Swingin' Midway Drive-In Theater alive and well. You can, of course, bring your dog. If they're kept on a leash!
The Swingin' Midway Drive-In Theater even has a neat dusk-to-dawn show option, an event that shows a total of four movies with a brief intermission between each. The experience takes on a festival feel, with free candy for the kids, a dunk tank, and maybe even a bounce house making an appearance. Dusk-to-dawn shows occur on Memorial Day weekend, July 3rd, Labor Day weekend, and sometimes to close out the summer season.