'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' to play outdoors in Lewes Aug. 30

Friends of the Lewes Canalfront Park, with the support of Citizens Bank, will present the sci-fi classic “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” at dusk Thursday, Aug. 30, in Lewes Canalfront Park. The movie is free and the community is invited to attend.

The movie tells the story of Roy Neary, an everyday blue-collar worker in Indiana, whose life changes after he is one of several people who experience a close encounter of the first kind, witnessing UFOs flying through the night sky. He is subsequently haunted by a mountainlike image in his mind and becomes obsessed with discovering what it represents, putting severe strain on his personal life.

Meanwhile, government agents around the world have a close encounter of the second kind, discovering physical evidence of otherworldly visitors, when military vehicles that went missing decades ago suddenly appear in the middle of nowhere. Roy and the agents both follow the clues they have been given to reach a site where they will have a close encounter of the third kind: contact with visitors from the cosmos.

“Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. It is directed by Steven Spielberg, and stars Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr and Francois Truffaut.

Attendees may bring a blanket or lawn chair and maybe a picnic supper for free family entertainment on the banks of the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal. The park is at 211 Front St. in Historic Lewes.

For more information, go to www.lewescanalfrontpark.org or the park’s Facebook page. For the weather/information hotline, call 302-645-2795.