Best Way To Wrap Up Summer? Watching Beloved Characters Unwrap Delights On Crystal Screen

Outdoor movie festivals are a summer staple throughout the Washington region, but as September rolls around, most venues have ceased offering these family-friendly events. Not so for Crystal Screen—Sips & Sweets, Crystal City’s outdoor movie festival featuring classic movies about chocolate and wine. Movies include the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory starring the recently deceased Gene Wilder, Bottle Shock, Chocolat, and Sideways.

Movies are shown every Tuesday evening throughout September about 30 minutes after sunset on the lawn of the Bell Street courtyard at 1901 South Bell St. The setting is perfect for a takeout picnic from any of Crystal City’s dozens of restaurants, and you can also snack on sweets provided by Schakolad or sip from a collection of carefully curated wines from the Crystal City Wine Shop. The pop-up cash bar will be open throughout the festival screenings.

The movie festival joins the "SIPtember" lineup of events, which includes the Sip and Salsa on Sunday, Sept. 11, Pups and Pilsners on Sunday, Sept. 18, and Wine in the Water Park every Friday throughout September.

The lineup of critically acclaimed films is:

• Sept. 6: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) — Charlie receives a golden ticket to a factory run by an enigmatic confectioner. He enters Willy Wonka's incredible, edible realm and unexpectedly discovers the most important secret of all—a generous, loving heart.
• Sept. 13: Bottle Shock (2008) — The story of the early days of California winemaking, featuring the now-infamous blind Paris wine tasting of 1976 that has come to be known as Judgment of Paris, putting Napa on the map.
• Sept. 20: Chocolat (2000) — A woman and her daughter open a chocolate shop in a small French village that shakes up the rigid morality of the community.
• Sept. 27: Sideways (2004) — Two men nearing middle age embark on a weeklong road trip through California's wine country, just as one is about to take a trip down the aisle.

To learn more about the event organizer and Bisnow content partner, click here.