On February 18 1954, an advertisement appeared in the Melbourne Sun:
“Opening tonight at 6:30 — Australia’s first drive-in theater”
The “Skyline” in Burwood, a Melbourne suburb, became the first of more than 330 drive-ins that were built across Australia and changed the way Australians saw movies forever.
Welcome to the Drive-ins Downunder web site: A tribute to the drive-in theaters of Australia and the world.
Drive-ins Downunder is the place to find out all about the history of Australian Drive-in Theatres. Over time every one of the 300 plus drive-ins that operated in Australia will have some information about them added here.
The first version of this website appeared over 20 years ago and whilst the old site served its purpose well, a lot has changed in that time, both with the drive-in scene in Australia, and the technology used to present this site. On this new version of Drive-ins Downunder I plan to add many more images and piles of information, so check back regularly.
Australia’s largest drive-in, the Lunar Dandenong in Melbourne has been experiencing solid growth for years, proving that drive-ins are still relevant in the era of personal devices, streaming and social media. In fact the drive-in is the only place where you can use your devices whilst the movie is running! For all the latest sessions times and info.about Lunar visit https://www.lunardrive-in.com.au
In addition to Lunar Dandenong, there are also drive-ins open in Dromana and Coburg in Victoria, Blacktown, Hedon Greta and Dubbo in NSW, Gepps Cross and Coober Pedy in South Australia, Kingsley in Western Australia, Yatala, Charters Towers, Ipswich, Mareba, Jericho & Ayre in Queensland. There are others that open from time to time in Western Australia so keep your eyes open when travelling around.
I do appreciate your updates even if I don’t always immediately get around to making the changes on the site.
Visit your local drive-in soon… and often!