Whanganui Girls' College students host Grease drive-in movie night at Whanganui racecourse

Six Whanganui Girls' College students have created a drive-in movie. Catherine Lewis (left), Skyla Grant, Davina Bowman, Camille Paim, Jemmah Lane and Emily Waugh. Photo / Bevan Conley

Watching Grease on a big screen while parked up in your car on the Whanganui Racecourse is not something usual for locals to do on a Saturday night.

But the possibility has become a reality due to the efforts of six Year 12 Whanganui Girls' College students who have created a Whanganui drive-in, to raise funds for the Cancer Society.

Emily Waugh, Catherine Lewis, Skyla Grant, Camille Paim, Jemmah Lane and Davina Bowman organised the event as part of a Massey University leadership project.

With two months to plan and prepare, the girls wanted to create an event that would attract the interest and attention of all age groups.

"We wanted the idea to be fun and it's something that's different for Whanganui," Catherine said.

Emily said drive-in movies used to be common.

"Some people may want to relive an old experience and younger people may want to experience something new."

The girls said the amount of positive feedback and support they had received so far showed it was an awesome decision.

The main aim of the evening was to raise funds for the Cancer Society with the event being cash only.

"We really wanted to get behind it so we decided we would just focus locally and support the Whanganui Cancer Society Branch," Catherine said.

The girls have spent the past few weeks selling firewood and raffle tickets at local markets to gather funds to pay for a popcorn and candy floss stall, hot food truck and a coffee and icecream cart.

From there they have sold more than 100 tickets to those wanting to bring a deck chair and blanket and have 50 reserved parking spots for those into the more traditional park-up vibe, some of whom will be turning up in old hotrod cars.

The 16-year-olds are hoping the night will be a lot of fun by bringing a "historic" event back to life with the film streaming on a Panasonic cinema projector.

"We are hoping that by the end of the night people have relived an old memory or have experienced something they've only heard about or seen in the movies," Emily said.

• Gates open at 5.30pm on Saturday with the movie kicking off around 6.30pm with tickets and parking spaces still available.