Festival Cinemas 5

Saw Oliver Stone's "JFK" in this theatre many years ago.

This theater sat vacant for almost 2 years prior to demolition. It was completely demolished and the land was cleared within a week. A quickly-developed upscale shopping center now sits on the site. Nothing remains of the original structure.

I worked at this theatre for 3 years as an assistant manager & a manager trainee. This theatre was the original location of the Festival Enterprises chain. It was the home office & theatre. The chain was sold to Mann Theatres about 1987. Festival Enterprises was very successful.

What a fun place to work, glad that others remember this theatre.

The Festival opened on May 29, 1969; the building it occupied
had originally been a Fuller Paints store and auto glass
installation shop. It closed on August 31, 2001, and was
razed on November 26th; the site is now occuped by
Mc Covey's 44 Restaurant and a Thomasville Furniture store.

Did this open in 1969 as a single or a 5-plex?

The address for the Festival Cinema 5 was 1450 N. California Blvd., Walnut Creek, Ca. 94596

Yes, even Festival has its own Friendster profile. This is the email to add them: festivalcinemas@yahoo.com
or search First Name: Festival Cinema Last Name: Walnut Creek

I loved/hated working here (91-93) ;) Very Melrose Place, but met my now ex-wife there and still in contact with most of the co-workers ten years later.

oh I miss the ankle-grabber.

The ankle grabber was still there in 91-93?! I remember him, too!

I too worked there as "Mr. Sunshine" the projectionist. If those booth walls could only talk.

Does anybody know about the El Rey theater that was on Main St in the downtown area. (I am assuming it is now either demolished and/or turned into retail)

Sadly it was torn down and replaced by an office complex sometime in 1981. It's not even that welcoming of a complex either.

source: http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:LSTLWNEPYmEJ:www.filmjournal.com/Article.cfm%3FPageID%3D99668765+El+rey+demolished,+walnut+creek&hl=en&client=firefox-a

I have a lot of fond memories of the Festival. It was always the nicest theater in the area, until the arrival of the Brendon in Concord, which is now oddly itself fallen out of favor.

The Festival Cinemas 5 opened on Wednesday May 28, 1969 (coincidentally, the same day the Capri theatre in Concord, CA opened). It had originally opened as the Festival 1 & 11 and had only two screens. The first features were “Winning” starring Paul Newman and “The Loves of Isadora” starring Vanessa Redgrave.

The Festival 1 & 11 would expand to (5) screens and become the Festival Cinema Center on Wednesday June 30, 1971. The films playing were:

1)Plaza Suite
2)Tora, Tora, Tora
3)The Summer of 42
4)Love Story
5)Wild Rovers

One of the last films to play there was The Odd Couple 2. We won tickets from a radio station.

George Senda
Concord, Ca

I lived in Walnut Creek in the early 1940's. I remember the El Rey theater quite well. Saw many movies there. I attended the Walnut Creek school (4th grade). I can remember our class going to see
"Bambi" there. Also remember the long line of people waiting to get
in to see "Gone with the Wind" when it played at the El Rey. Seems
like there was an El Rey hot dog stand next to the theater. There
was also the "Home Restaurant" on one end of town when you came in
from Oakland. There was a Walgreens in about the middle of town. I have happy memories of living in Walnut Creek in the early 1940's.

bfole... you should post your comments at the El Rey Theatre section at http://cinematreasures.org/theater/10834/
Seems that people are only recalling the XXX days and after.

AT the Festival I remember watching "Blazing Saddles" and laughing my head off. Also remember watching "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and getting a lot of dirty looks when I roared with laughter.

This was my favorite theater growing up. A lot of 'classics' (mind you I'm a child of the 80s) I saw at this theater and fondly remember. This was also the theater that inspired me to get into the film industry. My God Mother took me to see the 'muppet movie' when I was a kid here and her daughter was a theater manager. she took me to the projector room after the film and being up there just 'inspired' me to get into this industry. About 15 years later I saw my first screen credit in that theater. This year I had my biggest screen credit yet and would have loved to have seen it there, sadly. It's gone.

I worked at the festival w.c. 1984-1987 and enjoyed it a great deal. I don't recommend a movie theater as a first job because it will make you hate most future occupations. We would turn out all the lights after closing, grab flashlights and headsets, and engage in a creepy (pre laser tag) hunt occasionally. Also running employee only sneaks of films like Aliens, Untouchables, Brazil, and Clan of the Cave Bears (what the hell WAS that scampering noise in the booth!) was quite memorable.