Outdoor Movies Near Walnut Creek, CA in Summer
Walnut Creek has two outdoor movie series of its own. Movies Under the Stars puts a free film on the Civic Park lawn at dusk, run by the city's Arts + Recreation department, and Joybound Summer Movie Nights shows animal films in a pavilion on Mitchell Drive for a sliding-scale donation, finishing before dark.
The other six sit in neighboring Contra Costa towns within about 25 minutes of downtown, from Martinez to San Ramon. Picking among them mostly comes down to bedtime and seating. Five of the eight start at dusk, which in midsummer can mean close to 9 p.m. The ones that don't also swap the lawn for something else: a pool you float in at San Ramon, or your own car at the West Wind Solano Drive-In in Concord.
Our picks
- Toddlers who can't stay up: Joybound Summer Movie Nights. The show runs 6 to 7:30 p.m. under a covered pavilion, admission is a suggested donation, and dogs are welcome.
- A movie night outside summer: West Wind Solano Drive-In. Runs all year on two screens of first-run double features, with Tuesdays discounted and children four and under free.
- Kids who'd rather be swimming: Dive-In Movies at San Ramon Olympic Pool. Two dollars a person to float in the pool through the film, with deck chairs for anyone staying dry.
- Dinner downtown, then the film: Moonlight Movies on the Danville Town Green. Crafts, lawn games and trivia from 6:30 on a one-acre green, with takeout from a Hartz Avenue restaurant carried over.
- Free and just up the road: Sunset Cinema Movie in the Park. No ticket and no registration, about ten minutes up Contra Costa Boulevard, with the film going up roughly fifteen minutes after sunset.
At a glance
| Option | City | Admission | Hosted by | Venue type | Movie start | Address |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walnut Creeksource | Freesource | City or town recreation departmentsource | City or community parksource | At dusk or sundownsource | 1375 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek, CAsource | |
| Walnut Creeksource | Sliding scale donationsource | Nonprofit organizationsource | Nonprofit campus pavilionsource | Early evening, before darksource | 2890 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, CAsource | |
| Pleasant Hillsource | Freesource | Recreation and park districtsource | City or community parksource | At dusk or sundownsource | 147 Gregory Lane, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523source | |
| Orindasource | Freesource | City or town recreation departmentsource | City or community parksource | At dusk or sundownsource | 28 Orinda Way, Orinda, CA 94563source | |
| Martinezsource | Freesource | City or town recreation departmentsource | City or community parksource | At dusk or sundownsource | Redwood Dr. & Center Ave., Martinez, CA 94553source | |
| Danvillesource | Freesource | City or town recreation departmentsource | Town green or plazasource | At dusk or sundownsource | 420 Front Street, Danville, CAsource | |
| Concordsource | Paid ticketsource | Private businesssource | Drive-in theatersource | Scheduled showtimessource | 1611 Solano Way, Concord, CAsource | |
| San Ramonsource | Paid ticketsource | City or town recreation departmentsource | Community poolsource | Scheduled showtimessource | 9900 Broadmoor Drive, San Ramon, CA 94583source |
How late the film starts
Sundown is the default here, and it runs late in July. Martinez opens its food vendors around 7 p.m. but the film at Hidden Valley Park goes up closer to 9 than 8. Danville starts its crafts and trivia at 6:30 and the movie around 8, and Pleasant Hill starts about fifteen minutes after sunset.
Joybound is the only screening that ends before dark, at 7:30. San Ramon opens recreation swim at 7 p.m. and runs its film on a set schedule. At the other extreme, the Solano Drive-In's second feature often runs past midnight.
Free, a donation, or a ticket
Five series cost nothing: Civic Park, Pleasant Hill, Orinda, Martinez and Danville, each run by a city, town or park district. Joybound asks for a sliding-scale donation that goes back into the rescue's programs. San Ramon charges a token $2 a person, and registering ahead is the way to be sure of a spot. The drive-in is the only commercial ticket, at $11.50 for an adult and $3 for a child, which still makes a full carload cheap next to an indoor theater.
Chairs, dogs and swimsuits
The house rules differ more than you'd guess. Civic Park bans high-back chairs and pets, while Joybound invites dogs along and opens its adoption floor beforehand. Orinda is a blanket-and-your-own-popcorn night, with parking in the Orinda Way lots. Hidden Valley Park has ballfields, a playground and restrooms for the long wait until dusk.
In San Ramon, bring swimsuits: the pool clears while staff set up the screen, then swimmers go back in to watch from the water.
The options in detail
Movies Under the Stars at Civic Park
Walnut Creek's own summer movie series, run by the city's Arts + Recreation department on the Civic Park lawn between the white gazebo and the ceramics studio. Screenings are free, the crowd is families with blankets and low chairs, and food and drink vendors set up a couple of hours before the film so you can make an evening of it. Recent seasons have run a handful of Friday and Saturday nights from July into September rather than every week, so it is worth checking the lineup before planning around it. High-back chairs and pets are not allowed.
Joybound Summer Movie Nights
Joybound People & Pets, the Walnut Creek animal rescue formerly known as ARF, screens animal-themed films in the pavilion on its Mitchell Drive campus on Friday evenings through the summer. Admission is a suggested sliding-scale donation rather than a fixed ticket, the proceeds go back into the rescue's programs, and dogs are welcome alongside their people. Because the show runs 6 to 7:30 p.m. it is the one option here that works for small children who cannot last until a sundown start. The adoption floor is open beforehand if you want to meet the residents.
Sunset Cinema Movie in the Park
The Pleasant Hill Recreation & Park District puts a full-size outdoor screen on the lawn at Pleasant Hill Park for a handful of summer Saturday nights. Festivities start about an hour ahead, the film goes up roughly fifteen minutes after sunset, and there is no ticket and no registration: you turn up with chairs and blankets. Other than Civic Park it is the closest free series to Walnut Creek, about ten minutes up Contra Costa Boulevard. Titles skew recent and family-rated.
Movies in the Park at Orinda Community Park
Orinda's parks department brings a screen to the lawn at Orinda Community Center Park a few times a season, with the titles picked by a community survey in January. It is free and deliberately low-key: families spread out on the grass with blankets and their own popcorn, and the film starts once it is dark. The schedule is thin, usually three or four nights spread from late spring into October rather than a weekly run, so check the city calendar before driving over the hill. Parking is in the Orinda Way lots.
Movies in the Park at Hidden Valley Park
Martinez runs its Movies in the Park as a free community night in one of the city's larger neighborhood parks, most often the 16-acre Hidden Valley Park off Center Avenue. Food vendors open around 7 p.m. and the film goes up at dusk, which in midsummer means closer to 9 p.m. than 8. The park has ballfields, a playground and restrooms, so kids have somewhere to burn off the wait. It is the northernmost option here, about fifteen minutes from downtown Walnut Creek.
Moonlight Movies on the Danville Town Green
Danville shows free films on the one-acre Town Green between the library and the community center on select Friday evenings from June through midsummer. Crafts, lawn games and pre-movie trivia start at 6:30 and the film goes up around 8, or whenever the light drops. Because the green sits in the middle of downtown Danville, the usual play is to buy dinner from a restaurant on Hartz Avenue and carry it over. A new pavilion is being built on the green, so the 2027 season may move or change shape.
West Wind Solano Drive-In
The Solano is the only drive-in left in the East Bay and the only option here that runs all year rather than for a few summer nights. Two screens play first-run double features, the sound comes through your car stereo, and there is a snack bar and a playground for the gap between films. It is the one paid entry on this list, but Tuesdays are discounted and children four and under get in free, so a carload is still cheap next to an indoor theater. Expect a long night: the second feature often runs past midnight.
Dive-In Movies at San Ramon Olympic Pool
San Ramon's twist is that you watch from the water. Recreation swim opens at 7 p.m., the pool clears briefly while staff set up the screen, and then swimmers are let back in to float through the film; there are deck chairs if you would rather stay dry. Entry is a token two dollars a person and registering ahead is the way to be sure of a spot. The series alternates between the Olympic Pool on Broadmoor Drive and the Dougherty Valley Aquatic Center, so confirm which pool before you drive down.
How we researched this
Only two outdoor movie series run inside Walnut Creek city limits, so this list widens to the central Contra Costa towns a Walnut Creek family would drive to, within about 25 minutes. Picnic Flix in Dublin is free and real but sits about 30 minutes out in Alameda County, and the Alameda, Berkeley and Oakland series are farther still. Family Movie Night at The Orchards was dropped because no screening turned up after 2019, one-off neighborhood nights at Athan Downs and La Noce parks aren't recurring series, and Lafayette, Moraga, Clayton and Alamo run summer concerts rather than films.
There are no dates or film titles in the table on purpose. Each organizer posts that summer's lineup in late spring and takes it down after the season, and the research here happened in September 2026, as the 2026 screenings were winding down. When the 2027 schedules appear, check two things: Martinez has used both Hidden Valley and Nancy Boyd parks in different years, and San Ramon alternates between the Olympic Pool and the Dougherty Valley Aquatic Center. Danville is building a new pavilion on its green, so its 2027 nights may move.