Outdoor Cinema FAQs: Your Complete Guide

Tickets for all our screenings can be booked via our website www.cinestock.co.uk

To find out what we are screening and where for our season, you can search by either venue or film. Once you have selected the venue and the movie you wish to see, please choose one of our ticket options. We have lots to cater to singles, groups, and families. Once you’ve selected your tickets, follow the easy steps to make the payment. Once you’ve completed your purchase, you will get an email sent to the email address provided (please make sure to check your junk folder if we are not a saved contact already). Once you have this you're all set and ready for a fantastic evening at a stunning venue, watching a classic, cult, new release or blockbuster film.

After you have completed the purchase process and made the payment, you will receive an email confirming your ticket. You need to either print the ticket or show it on your phone to our team to scan the barcode at the gates for entry. Don't worry if you forget or lose your ticket email, as we will have a full list of purchases at every screening to assist you.

If purchasing our luxury chair package or a Premium ticket, these include a luxury high-back padded chair, with pillow and blanket. These are always extremely popular and tend to sell out very quickly. They take the hard work out of your evening, meaning you don’t have to carry chairs and blankets with you (Although if you want to bring extra blankets for your extra comfort then please feel free to do so).

On the day of your screening, you will collect your chair, pillow and blanket from the collection point that will be made aware to you on arrival. This allows you to select the spot you want to sit and also means if you are joining friends or have members of your group who have selected to bring their own chairs, pillows or blankets to sit on, you can still all sit together for the best group experience. If you purchase our luxury chair package or a Premium ticket, you will receive a luxurious high-back padded chair, along with a pillow and blanket. These packages are incredibly popular and tend to sell out very quickly, so we recommend booking early to avoid disappointment. With this package, you won't have to worry about carrying chairs or blankets with you to the event. However, if you prefer to bring extra blankets for your comfort, you are more than welcome to do so.

On the day of your screening, you can collect your chair, pillow, and blanket from the collection point, which will be indicated to you upon arrival. This allows you to choose the perfect spot to sit and enjoy the event. If you are attending with friends or family who have brought their own chairs, pillows, or blankets, you can still sit together for the best group experience.

Yes. We offer half-price admission tickets for carers. All you will need to do is email us once the ticket for the cared-for person has been purchased with the ticket reference, and we will provide you with a unique discount code to be able to buy a half-price ticket for the carer.

Our age range for children is 3 – 15 years of age, meaning that if the child is 15 years old or younger at the time of the screening, you can purchase a child ticket for them. For anyone 16 and over at the time of the screening, an adult ticket will need to be purchased. Except if you are of pension age, you can buy one of our discounted tickets. For children three and under, no ticket is required, but please be aware that proof of age may be required at the gate for any of the ticket types may be required.

We always like to have children at our screenings, and as you’ll see, many of our films are child-friendly. However, some rules surround the age classification of films in the UK. For films with a 12A rating, children younger than 12 can watch the movie if accompanied by an adult and that adult is happy for that child to see the movie. For 15-age classification films, nobody under the age of 15 is allowed to see the movie; the same applies to films with an 18-age classification. This is the law for UK cinemas.

All tickets are non-refundable, and we only offer a full refund, including your booking fee, if we have to cancel the screening before we hit play on the film.

What if we have a question or need assistance with something before the screening

You can reach us by using the contact form on this website.

As you will see, we offer a wide selection of different ticket types. These include discount tickets for families of 2, 3, 4 and 5 as well as discounted tickets for couples and groups of 3, 4 and 5 people. We also have early bird discounted tickets and discount tickets for OAPs / NUS / NHS / Fire / Police and Blue Light card holders, but please note that you may have to provide ID to confirm this at the gate.

We open the gates one and a half hours before the film start times, this is for you to be able to enjoy and explore the venue (or swim before the screenings at Saltdean Lido) as well as to enjoy the live musicians or DJs we have performing while the sun sets and before we hit play on the films.

This also gives you enough time to make sure you get a great spot to see the film, as well as being able to enjoy the fantastic food and drink on offer before the film starts. Please make sure to check the gate opening and film start times on your ticket confirmation email, or you can find this information on our website event pages.

Please be aware that we may carry out bag checks at the gates before entry. This is for the safety of you and everyone attending the screening.

The vast majority of our sites are wheelchair accessible. The only site where the journey from the carpark to the screening location will be a bit longer is Chartwell. If you are attending by wheelchair and have any questions or concerns, please do email us through the contact us form, and we will ensure that you receive all necessary information or that you receive assistance if needed.

There is free onsite parking at all of our venues except Lewes Castle and Saltdean Lido. For Lewes Castle, you must find parking in the car parks around the town centre close to the castle itself or on-road parking where available. For Saltdean Lido, there is a free car park directly opposite the entrance to the Lido and on the roads around the venue.

Please adhere to the parking rules when parking is not available and do not obstruct entrance to private and company buildings. Parking information will also be provided on the ticket email for the event you are attending.

At all our screenings, onsite toilets are provided. We do not use festival toilets except at Gatwick Aviation Museum due to more significant attendance numbers, and all venues include disabled-accessible toilets. Please be aware that the toilets are far from the screening location at Chartwell House and Leonardslee Gardens.

As you know, the British summer weather can be unpredictable. However, we will go ahead in the rain and only cancel an event if it becomes a danger to the audience or our staff. Please make sure to check the weather forecast in advance and come prepared. Our outdoor screenings will go ahead in bad weather, so please make sure to come ready, we also do not allow the use of umbrellas at our screenings as these as you can imagine may cause issues and block the site lines for other attendees.

You are always welcome to bring children to the screening, but please be aware of the age classification of the film you are attending. Also, children over the age of 3 require a ticket to the open-air cinema events. A child’s ticket is from 3 – 15 years of age, meaning that if, on the date of the screening you are attending, the child is 15 or under, they will only need a child ticket. Anyone 16 and over on the day of the outdoor cinema event will need one of our adult tickets.

We have fantastic food on offer at all of our screenings and this will vary from venue to venue, so please make sure to check the event page of the open-air cinema that you wish to attend. Food options will include, handmade pizzas, handmade burgers and hotdogs as well as freshly made crepes and hot-filled fresh churros. At every screening we have a sweets and treats stall, selling all your cinema favourite treats like popcorn, crisps, chocolate share bags, and other sweets.

Cinestock do not allow the bringing of your own food and drink to our summer outdoor screenings, we have fantastic food on offer at every night and the films start later enough that if you don’t want to eat at the event, you can always eat before you come.

For those with a food allergy or intolerance, please email us in advance of the screening, and we will do all that we can to accommodate your requirements.

We have luxury chair hire packages that take the hard work out of your evening these are our Luxury High Back padded chairs that come with a pillow and blanket. You can purchase a premium ticket which includes the cinema entry and the high-back chair package, or you can purchase a normal cinema ticket and then add a luxury chair package (this is the cheaper option for children).

If you do not wish to purchase one of the Luxury chair hire options or if they sell out, then you will need to bring your own chair, bean bag, or blanket and cushions to sit on.

Please be aware that we do not allow the bringing of gazebos, umbrellas or tables to the summer outdoor cinema screenings.

Most of our venues allow your dog to be brought to the screening, although we do have some venues where it is impossible to bring along your four-legged fluffy friend.

The venues where we are not allowed to bring dogs, except service dogs, are that of Saltdean Lido, East Sussex National Hotel & Chartwell

Please note that if your four-legged friend becomes a noise issue or problem for other attendees, we will have to ask you to remove them from the open-air cinema arena.

You are not allowed to bring your own food and drink to our screenings, Gazebo, tables, umbrellas, open naked flames, fireworks, or laser pens. Our staff will confiscate any items that they consider to be useable as weapons, such as sharp-pointed items like knives. All our events and venues are drug-free sites, so please do not bring any controlled substances, as if found, you will not be permitted to enter.

No recording equipment is allowed, as the recording of the film is strictly prohibited.

Sponsorship, promotional or marketing material for any other business, event or activity is prohibited. Please note that we conduct bag checks at the arrival point, and you may not be allowed to enter if you have forbidden items with you.

If we are showing a sing-along film, these will involve subtitles for the songs, and also, if we screen an international foreign language film, then we will have subtitles on the screen. But in most cases, there will not be subtitles available. We recommend using a fantastic App that you can download on your phone called ‘Subtitle Viewer’; with this App, you can search for the film title, and it will give you subtitles as the film is playing.

We do not allow smoking or vaping in the cinema arena for the comfort of the main audience, however, if you speak with our team in the arena, they will be able to provide you with a location where we will allow smoking or vaping. Please ensure to dispose of your rubbish correctly as all our venues are fantastic and stunning locations.

Private hire or private screenings is something we have done since we began some 14 years ago, so yes we can provide this service for you. We have a variety of different cinema setups for both the outdoors and indoors, and have worked with venues both across the UK and internationally. Please check out our private hire packages on our website for all the information about this.