It’s time to dig out your lawn chairs and picnic blankets and get ready to enjoy the return of a summertime tradition at CSUN: The annual outdoor Summer Movie Fest is back. The Associated Students production, now in its ninth year, will feature family favorites like “Encanto” and “Turning Red.” There will also be critically acclaimed recent releases such as “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”

The beloved event takes place every Thursday evening through Aug. 25, on the University Library Lawn, starting at 5 p.m. The movies are shown at dusk.

Summer Movie Fest started as a way to bring the community together during the summer, and it now aims to bring people together after years of social distancing. CSUN students, faculty and residents in the surrounding San Fernando Valley area are welcome at the movie nights.

“Though we weren’t able to have the movie nights for a while because of the pandemic, we’re super excited to be able to have this free event for students, staff and faculty again,” said James Forrester, program manager with Associated Students.

Food trucks will be part of the evening, offering different selections of food and beverages for hungry movie-goers to purchase. There also will be fun activities and raffles for prizes.

Masks are not required at the outdoor event, but CSUN students and employees must complete a Health Screening Survey before attending. You can check out the list of upcoming movies online.