Skyway Outdoor Cinema: Bringing Community Together for More Than 2 Decades

by Nikki Barron

What began as a humble event more than two decades ago, Skyway Outdoor Cinema, organized by the West Hill Community Association, has blossomed into one of the most beloved summer traditions in the Skyway neighborhood just south of Seattle in unincorporated King County. You can attend the next Skyway Outdoor Cinema — and the last of the season — on Friday, Aug. 30, at 7:30 p.m., at Skyway Park, where it is screening Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

The movie also includes a live performance from 8-Bit Brass Band, a free and sliding-scale bike-repair station hosted by Bike Works, balloon animals by Hatter Mike Balloon Artist, flag football with the Seattle Majestics, soccer with Skyway United FC, and outdoor games with King County Parks. There will also be food from Taco Cortes' food truck, ice cream from A&M Sweet Treats, and, of course, lots and lots of popcorn and a fully stocked concession stand by West Hills Community Association.

The History of Skyway Outdoor Cinema

Founded in 2003, Skyway Outdoor Cinema isn't just a free, family-friendly way to spend a Friday night; it's a local institution committed to improving the quality of life for its residents by providing accessible, community-oriented activities to an often overlooked, underserved, and under-resourced area. To them, it is about reclaiming public space and creating a place where neighbors can celebrate everything that makes Skyway a vibrant, diverse, and resilient community.

West Hill Community Association, which serves unincorporated King County neighborhoods on Seattle's southern border, including Skyway, Lakeridge, Bryn Mawr, and Campbell Hill, hosted the first Skyway Outdoor Cinema as a response to the lack of community-oriented activities in the Skyway neighborhood in 2003. It was a modest setup, featuring a small screen and a simple projector screening Men in Black II. Despite the simplicity of the setup, the event was a success, and the West Hill Community Association committed to making it an annual tradition. This worked for a while, but after a few years, the organizers started to see a decline in attendance and volunteer sign-ups, spurring a discussion about the possibility of shutting the cinema down.

In 2013, West Hill Community Association board member Devin Chicras and community volunteer Mary Goebel stepped in, knowing how valuable the event was to the neighborhood. With no real event-planning experience or funding, Chicras and Goebel rebuilt the event from the ground up, launching an Indiegogo fundraising campaign to purchase their own equipment, including a high-quality projector and sound system, to make it more sustainable. The campaign raised $4,320, exceeding their goal and reaffirming that this was something the community wanted.

With this reinvigorated momentum, the event began to grow again, attracting larger crowds of Skyway residents, families, and friends eagerly anticipating each summer movie lineup. By 2019, the event drew crowds of up to 500 people, and began adding food trucks, balloon-animal twisters, face-painting booths, people in costume to entertain kids, and other festivities.

But in 2020, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, this triumphant momentum was threatened once again. Faced with the possibility of not hosting an event for the first time since 2003, organizers shifted the format, launching a virtual version of the outdoor cinema in partnership with the Skyway Library.

"In 2020, we were like every other organization, trying to figure out what we were going to do," Chicras explained to the South Seattle Emerald in 2021. "It was so uncertain for so long. Normally, the community votes on their movies in April. And at that time, we were just kind of learning about the shutdown, and everybody thought it was only going to last [a] couple of weeks."

Washington State didn't fully reopen for over a year, finally lifting most COVID-19 restrictions in June 2021. But Chicras found a way to weave in the elements of community engagement, her favorite aspect of the event, by giving out bags full of treats, candy, and popcorn from a socially distanced pop-up at the original location in the Skyway U.S. Bank parking lot. (The location is now the Skyway Resource Center.) Finally, in 2022, Skyway Outdoor Cinema returned to an in-person event at its original location filled with community booths, food trucks, and activities, showing films every Friday night in August.

Skyway Outdoor Cinema Today

On the warm summer evening of Aug. 16, Skyway Outdoor Cinema kicked off its 21st year at its new temporary venue, the newly renovated Skyway Park, with a screening of Barbie. Once again, Skyway neighbors, families, and friends joined together in a sea of blankets and lawn chairs on the park's baseball field to enjoy an evening under the stars. The air smelled of popcorn and tacos from Taco Cortes, filled with sounds of children playing, hands sticky from ice cream bars from A&M Sweet Treats, their laughter blending with the hum of conversations among neighbors catching up after too long apart. Kids and parents alike were jumping rope with Double Dutch Divas, playing flag football with the Seattle Majestics, soccer with Skyway United FC, and outdoor games with King County Parks, a supporter of the event.

Before the movie began, The Filthy FemCorps, Seattle's only all-women, nonbinary, and trans marching band, strutted across the baseball diamond dressed as their favorite Barbies. The ensemble played brass versions of songs from the movie and other pop hits while kids danced and sang along — balloon animals from Hatter Mike Balloon Artist in hand. After their set, members of the West Hill Community Association board, treasurer and event organizer Devin Chicras and board chair Greg Hunter, took the stage (or the pitcher's mound) to greet the crowd with a warm welcome.

The park fell into a hush as the giant inflatable screen lit up with Barbie's world. Laughter, cheers, and the occasional gasp filled the air as the movie's story unfolded. As the final credits rolled and the crowd began to pack up, there was a sense that this wasn't just another movie night — it was a reminder of the power of community, togetherness, and being part of something bigger than ourselves.

As Skyway continues to grow and evolve, events like the Skyway Outdoor Cinema will undoubtedly remain at the heart of the Skyway neighborhood, reminding us of the importance of coming together to share in the simple joys of life.

For more information, head to MyWestHill.org.

Nikki Barron is a freelance photographer, videographer, and graphic designer for the South Seattle Emerald based in Seattle's Skyway neighborhood. When she's not working at The Emerald, you can find her working as the Communications and Outreach Manager at SMASH, a nonprofit that provides access to free and low-cost healthcare to Puget Sound area musicians or as the founder of Papercut, a magazine, and community for women and those that experience misogyny in music. You can learn more about Nikki and see her work at NikkiMarieBarron.com

Featured Image: At Skyway Outdoor Cinema on Aug. 16. (Photo: Nikki Barron)