The Cinquantenaire drive-in

At the time, a large public event in Brussels was almost always the business of a municipal or federal authority. The Cinquantenaire drive-in came from elsewhere: a non-profit, a simple idea and a feel for the public.

In 1988, Michel Culot, working within La Rétine de Plateau, the non-profit he co-founded with Eric Vauthier, decided to bring the American drive-in concept to Brussels. The chosen site was the Cinquantenaire park, under the arcades between Autoworld and the Musée de l'Armée: a screen of more than 300 m², parking for more than 250 cars, and the soundtrack broadcast on the car radio's FM band.

Every summer from 1988 to 2009, up to 15,000 filmgoers answered the call. The initiative lasted twenty-one years, marked its twentieth anniversary in 2008, held its final season in 2009, and was cancelled in 2010. Over time, Michel Culot's company, VO Communication, became an event agency with which Carl De Moncharline would later work, notably on the Mobilmix night.

For the Drive-In's opening in 1991, as for several Rétine de Plateau events of that period, it was Patrick Chaboud's Magic Land Théâtre company that set the street in motion. Without knowing it yet, Carl De Moncharline had two mentors who were already working together.

Source: RTBF, “Cinéma et déconfinement : quand le Drive-In du Cinquantenaire attirait plus de 15.000 cinéphiles chaque été”, 24 June 2020.