GET the popcorn and deckchairs at the ready because an open-air cinema is coming to Walton Hall and Gardens for the first time.

Walton Film Festival will launch on Friday, August 31, with Richard Curtis’s Notting Hill, starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.

But the organisers are hoping to appeal to film-goers of all types so the festival continues on Saturday, September 1, with something very different – a horror double bill.

That includes the cult phenomenon Donnie Darko, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, followed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez’s pioneering ‘found footage’ film, The Blair Witch Project.

The festival concludes with the 1964 classic, Mary Poppins, which will be aimed at families with an earlier showtime.

Operations manager Sean Kelly and his team have been planning the event for about a year and are hoping for between 400 and 500 people at each screening.

The Gorsey Lane resident said: “Hopefully the films we’re putting on across the weekend capture an audience that’s quite varied.

“There’s a clear divide in what we’re offering across the three days.

“Notting Hill on Friday will maybe appeal to couples, then we have a horror double bill on Saturday with two classics for fans of that and then Sunday is very much a family fun day with Mary Poppins.

“We’re certainly looking to cast our net a little further and are now looking at the entire north west as an audience.”

The Friday and Saturday films will be shown on a 8 metre by 4 metre screen with the backdrop of Walton Hall then on Sunday Mary Poppins will be aired on a 5 metre by 3 metre screen in the refurbished 19th century ‘Old Riding School’.

Warrington Guardian: mary poppins.jpg

Mary Poppins will be shown

Sean, whose favourite film is 10 Rillington Place starring Richard Attenborough, added: “It’s very much a picnic and a glass of wine sort of affair on Friday and Saturday where Sunday is more family orientated and with it being in the riding school we will have the Heritage Courtyard café close by with a variety of options for food and drink.

“I’m a horror fanatic so you won’t see me far away from that screen on Saturday night. They’re films I’ve enjoyed in the past and it will great to see them in the shadow of the hall with the atmosphere that will bring.”

Sean, who has worked with Warrington Borough Council for 30 years, was inspired by other similar events like Tatton Park’s Luna Outdoor Cinema and wanting to make more use of the estate’s 32 acres.

He said: “My team and I actively look at what events are taking place across the area and what’s successful in other parks.

“We’re looking to expand everything we do at the Walton estate. It’s always been known as the jewel in the crown of Warrington’s parks.

“It’s got a great sense of character and place but we what we want to create now is a multifunctional venue.

“We want to put a diverse range of events on and attract a variety of different audiences.