Dickson City is giving residents free entertainment for its 150th birthday.
Throughout the summer, the borough will hold six free concerts Saturdays at its Riverfront Park on Enterprise Street. And the town partnered with the Circle Drive-In on Business Route 6 to hold six nights of free movies Wednesdays. Both events will continue through August.
The borough will hold its first concert at 1 p.m. Saturday when the Old Friends Band performs. The Circle Drive-In held its first free community night Wednesday when it aired “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” with the next community movie night set for 9 p.m. June 25 when it will play Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho.”
To celebrate 150 years since Dickson City was founded, borough council decided to hold 150 events over the course of the year, borough Manager Cesare Forconi said. The concerts and movies are part of those events, he said.
“Council was very ambitious,” Forconi said. “We thought a great way to have these events is, of course, concerts. … The drive-in was nice enough to offer its facilities there for us.”
Dickson City opened its Riverfront Park in the 800 block of Enterprise Street in October 2023, constructing it with a dog park for large and small animals, as well as a boat launch and walking trail, among other amenities.
While the dog park is the park’s most notable feature, Forconi emphasized that the borough always wanted it to be more than a dog park.
Dickson City now plans to add a permanent bandstand to the park this summer, though that isn’t ready yet, he said. In the meantime, the borough will have a temporary bandstand in place for the concerts. There will be 11 bands performing across the six concerts, and the borough will have food trucks at the park, Forconi said. Concertgoers will have to bring their own seating, he said.
Circle Drive-In General Manager Dave Castelli said borough officials asked him if he’d be interested in partnering with the town for the 150th anniversary festivities.
“I thought it was a great idea just to promote Dickson City, to promote the history of the drive-in in the town,” he said, pointing out the Circle Drive-In is 76 years old. “I love doing community events.”
The only cost for the borough is paying for the actual movies, Forconi said, explaining they will be showing classic movies because they only carry a small charge to air. Retro films cost between $250 and $500, Castelli said.
Castelli sees the partnership as a unique opportunity to work with Dickson City, help out residents and give back to the community.
“There’s a lot of people that are struggling in the economy, and so giving people this opportunity, we’ll probably see people that just can’t afford to go to the drive-in or would never be able to come up to the drive-in,” Castelli said. “It gives everybody a chance to just come up and enjoy the nostalgia of the drive-in, which is half the age of the borough.”
The movies and concerts are a free way for families to spend time together, Forconi said.
“We want it to be a family-oriented event that everyone can attend from all ages,” he said.
For concert and movie schedules, visit dicksoncity-pa.gov and circledrive-in.com.