April sees the return of two familiar favourites, the Deckchair Cinema on the 18th, and the Mindil Beach Sunset Markets on the 26th.

The Deckchair Cinema first opened in June 1994 next to the RAN's fuel storage depot, and moved to its present site in Jervois Road in 2003. In the early 1920s, Darwin's first open-air cinema was a makeshift affair at the back of the Don Hotel at the corner of Cavanagh and Bennett Streets; then, in 1929, the first purpose-built cinema, The Star, was erected by Harold Snell. The Star could seat 860 people on two levels, in deckchairs and on bench seats.

It was virtually an open-air cinema with only a few rows in the back stalls and the dress circle covered by a roof. The Star was destroyed by Cyclone Tracy; the last film to be screened there was Celebration at Big Sur, a documentary about a 1969 music festival featuring Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell.

Last month saw the end of an era for the present cinemas in the CBD and Casuarina when the projection rooms were updated with a new digital system replacing the familiar spools.