The blockbuster line-up has been announced for Cambridge Film Festival’s annual Movies on the Meadows summer screenings at Grantchester.
If you can't wait until October for the 39th Cambridge Film Festival to arrive in the city, you can get your film festival fix over the August Bank Holiday weekend with the return of Movies on the Meadows.
Marvel superhero blockbuster Avengers: Endgame and Oscar-winning Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody are among the dozen films to be screened over four days at the outdoor extravaganza from the people behind the Cambridge Film Festival.
Returning to Grantchester for its 11th edition, and now firmly established as one of the largest outdoor film events in the UK, 2019's Movies on the Meadows will run from August 23 to August 26.
The open-air cinema will present 12 films on huge inflatable screens, alongside wonderful food from local vendors, all in one of the most beautiful settings Cambridge has to offer.
As well as now being a key event in Cambridge's cultural calendar, Movies on the Meadows is also a vital fundraiser for the main annual Film Festival.
Cambridge Film Festival marketing manager Owen Baker said: "Movies on the Meadows has been growing every year.
"It now has several thousand people attending across the four days, which makes it one of the largest film events in the UK, so we're really excited to be bringing more great films and some amazing local food to Grantchester this year, and have our fingers crossed for glorious weather."
Friday, August 23 is opening night at Movies on the Meadows and leading the impressive line-up is hit musical Bohemian Rhapsody, with Rami Malek's Oscar-winning performance as the legendary Queen frontman Freddie Mercury.
Friday also sees web-slinging superhero Spider-Man swooping into Grantchester in the critically acclaimed animated feature Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.
Saturday's programme will be headed up by the Russo Brothers' 2019 box office hit Avengers: Endgame, the final chapter in Marvel's epic series and the follow-up to 2018 Movies on the Meadows favourite Infinity War.
This blockbuster will be supported by an epic of a completely different kind in Free Solo, the heart-stopping story of professional climber Alex Honnold's attempt to conquer the first free solo climb of famed El Capitan's 900-metre, vertical rock face at Yosemite National Park.
The Saturday line-up is completed by Fisherman's Friends, the life-affirming and laugh-out-loud tale of 10 fisherman from Cornwall who achieve a top ten hit with their debut album of sea shanties.
Headlining on the Sunday is everyone's favourite magical nanny Mary Poppins who, many decades after her original visit, returns to London to help the Banks siblings and Michael's children through a difficult time in their lives in the perfectly titled Mary Poppins Returns.
There will also be the opportunity to witness career-making performances by Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Simon and Garfunkel, the Mamas and the Papas, The Who, the Byrds and the extraordinary Ravi Shankar in Monterey Pop.
This documentary captures the beautiful June weekend in 1967, at the beginning of the Summer of Love, when the Monterey International Pop Festival roared into life.
Sunday's selection is completed by the astonishing - and final - chapter of the beloved animated franchise How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.
August Bank Holiday Monday is cult classics day at Movies on the Meadows, with three films which really need no introduction.
Topping the bill will be King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table in the surreal masterpiece Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
This is more than ably supported by George Lucas' coming-of-age comedy American Graffiti.
Stanley Kubrick's hilarious apocalyptic satire starring the inimitable Peter Sellers, Dr Strangelove, will also be shown.
Owen Baker added: "Obviously we know that the food at Movies on the Meadows is almost as important as the films, so we're really looking forward to welcoming Cambridge's best street food vendors again this August.
"Glorious weather, incredible films, delicious food, and we even have an early bird discount this year, so hopefully there's really something for everybody!"
Tickets are on sale now, with cheaper early bird tickets available.
Adult tickets cost £16 (£13 early bird), concessions £14 (£12 early bird), children £6, (£4 early bird) and under4s free.
A festival pass, which gives you access to all four nights, costs £32.
To book tickets, visit www.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk/news/movies-meadows-2019
What films are being shown at Movies on the Meadows 2019?
Here are the listings:
? FRIDAY, AUGUST 23
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Amazing Grace.
? SATURDAY, AUGUST 24
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Free Solo (2017)
Fisherman's Friends (2019).
? SUNDAY, AUGUST 25
Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
Monterey Pop (1968).
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)
? MONDAY, AUGUST 26
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
American graffiti (1973)
Dr Strangelove (1964).
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