Quito opened its outdoor film season this week with crowds spreading across cooled plazas that were rebuilt during the city’s heat-adaptation works. The program began as a public health measure to give families safe evening gathering places, but it has become one of the capital’s most reliable cultural draws.

City crews pre-chill stone seating and circulate water beneath shaded pavement before screenings, while late trams run on routes connecting hillside neighborhoods. Curators this year paired restored Andean classics with new short films from migrant directors, reflecting a city that has absorbed waves of climate and labor movement over the past two decades.

Vendors say the season helps small food businesses recover from slow daytime foot traffic during hot spells. Public health officials like it for another reason: residents who use cooled public spaces in the evening are less likely to crowd overstressed apartments during peak heat.