Return to IMAX

For the past six summers, Riverfront Park’s big-BIG-screen IMAX Theatre has been the site of annual film festivals.

This year’s festival, which kicks off at 5:15 p.m. Friday, will take fans from the slopes of active volcanoes to the shark-filled Pacific, from the surface of the sun to the deep blue of the ocean in search of free-divers. And then there’s the acrobatic drama of Cirque de Soleil.

For the first half of the festival’s 18-day run, three films will be in rotation: “Forces of Nature,” “Island of the Sharks” and “Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man.”

Beginning Aug. 29, “Cirque de Soleil” will play with “Ocean Men: Extreme Dive” and “Solar Max.”

Last year’s festival ran the same five films over 10 days.

“It’s kind of a new format,” Riverfront Park Events Coordinator Dale Larsen says of this year’s schedule. “Hopefully, it will give people more of an opportunity.”

A closer look at the individual films:

• “Forces of Nature” (:40): Narrated by Kevin Bacon, this 2003 National Geographic documentary (original title: “Natural Disasters: Forces of Nature”) explores the powerful reality of earthquakes, volcanoes and tornadoes.

• “Island of the Sharks” (:40): Released originally in 1999, “Island of the Sharks” takes a look at the underwater life surrounding Cocos Island, an uninhabited spot 300 miles off the coast of Costa Rica.

• “Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man” (:38): The French circus troupe celebrates humankind by dramatizing the stages of development from birth to death in this film from 2000.

• “Ocean Men: Extreme Dive” (:40): The 2001 release follows the exploits of free-divers Pippin Ferreras and Umberto Pelizzari, who attempt to best each other by going ever deeper on a single breath of air.

• “Solar Max” (:38): Attempting to tell everything you ever wanted to know about the sun, this 2000 film combines facts with solar-singed cinematography.

Festival films begin at 5:15 p.m. each evening. The IMAX Theatre’s regular schedule, featuring such films as “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” “NASCAR: The IMAX Experience,” “Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk” and “Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West,” will play during the day.

Tickets for all individual films are $7 for adults, $6 for seniors (62 and above) and $5 for children 3 through 12 (under 2 are admitted free). Festival passes, which are good for the evening films only, are $29.95 for all five, $19.50 for three.

For further information, call (800) 336-PARK or 625-6600, or see the IMAX Web site at www.spokaneriverfrontpark.com/imax.asp.