It has been an extraordinarily busy 2026 for the Broadway!

Kyle Macfarlane

This summer has seen the return of film to Prestwick’s cinema for the first time in 50 years, the continued successful operation of the Broadway Pop-Up Museum and supporting visitor experience, and the rapid expansion of the Broadway Youth Film Society across Ayrshire through our Young Start programme, funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.

Let’s chat about the Film Society first.

The Broadway Youth Film Society was formed in 2025 at Prestwick Academy, with the founding aim of delivering immersive training workshops in the historic art of film projection and presentation. Since the launch of Young Start in February this year, the project has evolved to include the delivery of film screenings at the Broadway itself, filmmaking workshops through our media partner Ayrshire Film Company, and the expansion of the initiative to three additional schools in South Ayrshire. The Broadway Youth Film Society has now launched at Ayr Academy, Carrick Academy, and Girvan Academy, with opportunities now provided to young people across Ayrshire in each step of the film development process, from production to presentation.

On the presentation side, our upcoming workshops in film projection will hold significance not just for Ayrshire, but for the wider cinema industry. I was lucky enough to be selected this summer to take part in a first-of-its-kind projection course in London, delivered by Universal’s Talent Development department at the British Film Institute, where I gained experience of 35mm, 70mm, and IMAX 70mm projection. Thanks to Universal, I also attended the world premiere of The Odyssey, meeting Christopher Nolan that same day. For any trainee projectionist, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and to represent the Broadway on such an enormous scale at the film event of the year was a truly surreal experience. What I quickly learned by speaking to not only my colleagues on the course, but also the incredible team of projectionists at the BFI who are among the best in the country, is that what we’re doing at the Broadway is truly special, not just regionally, or nationally, but internationally.

Ayrshire will be one of the only regions in the world where future generations will be trained en masse in not just the operation of analogue film equipment, but the art of golden age presentation standards, as the traditional final cog in the Hollywood film industry machine. Very soon, high school pupils across Ayrshire will experience the same training I received in London at the Broadway, putting Prestwick on the map for ‘film on film’.

Speaking of film, on Saturday 18th July, the first feature film was shown in the Broadway since One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 1976. The film in question was the excellent 1957 comedy, The Smallest Show on Earth, and follows a young couple played by Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna when they inherit an old cinema. Rather than the majestic Grand Cinema in the centre of town, it turns out to be the old Flea Pit, the Bijou, with Peter Sellers and Margaret Rutherford starring as the long-serving projectionist and bookkeeper. A charming tale of the revival of an old picture house, it was a perfect choice for the return of film to Prestwick, and we aimed to echo the golden age showmanship of the Broadway’s management of the past by decorating and theming the cinema around the film and its era. The foyer featured film memorabilia from the 1950s, a manager’s desk set up with typewriter, half-written letter, and half-drunk cup of coffee, and 50s house music played by our resident composer on records. The front entrance featured the grandest additions, with red carpet, vintage bunting sewn by Rhona at Pin Cushion Interiors, and a beautiful baby blue MGA sports car provided by Rob of Ayrshire Classics Car Club. A truly special occasion that will live long in the memory of all at the Broadway.

And the film programme didn’t stop there! The other 50s classics of The Day the Earth Stood Still and An American in Paris followed in August, before four films in September chosen and co-hosted by our four branches of the Broadway Youth Film Society. The Firm from 1993 by Prestwick Academy, The Terminal from 2004 by Ayr Academy, The Jungle Book from 1967 by Carrick Academy, and Juno from 2007 by Girvan Academy. The September screenings delivered the perfect introduction to the Broadway for all film society students, and provided a wonderful glimpse into the Broadway’s past, and future, for packed audiences enjoying the magic of cinema across full film programmes.

Now, it is important to note that all screenings across this summer were restricted to member-exclusive audiences due to current licence conditions. However, that all changes in 2027.

Next year, the Broadway will open up to everyone for a packed summer season as the Broadway Cinema Experience returns in spring. An all-new iteration of the Broadway Pop-Up Museum will open with never-before-seen exhibits, we will enjoy regular opening hours every week with further additions to the foyer and a variety of supporting events announced over the coming months, and, most importantly, our cinema will become a cinema once again with a full programme of film, including festivals, new releases, and exciting collaborations.

So, stay tuned! The Broadway will be well and truly back. For all of us.