Need to Know: Outdoor Movie Event Tonight in Ferndale

The Ferndale Downtown Development Authority is hosting a free "Get Reel" Outdoor Movie Night tonight.

The movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" will be featured at 8 p.m. Thursday, along with some previews of resident-submitted videos as part of the iDowntownFerndale video contest.

"We've always talked about doing an outdoor movie," said Ferndale DDA executive director Cristina Sheppard-Decius, noting that an opportunity arose with a company that does inflatable movie screens.

She said the movie night coincides with the DDA's Third Thursday initiative and could become a recurring event.

The event will be located on Vester Street, where the DDA plans to do streetscape improvements similar to what has been done along Nine Mile Road, Sheppard-Decius said.

"The idea of locating it on Vester Street is really to begin to show people that there is opportunity for growth in our downtown over in another area and there are things happening," she said.

Here are the details for tonight's event:

• What: Outdoor movie night featuring "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."
• When: 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 20.
• Where: Vester Street in Ferndale near Valentine Distilling. Vester between Woodward and Bermuda will close at 3 p.m. for the event.
• Cost: Free.
• What else: Bring your own lawn chair, cooler, and blanket. No alcohol allowed. Guests can park their lawn chairs on Vester as early as 4 p.m. Some concessions on site; outdoor patio at Valentine Distilling will be open.
• More info: Visit www.downtownferndale.com.