Registration opens on Friday for Downton Abbey premiere at Altria Theater

The premiere last year was a roaring success.

November 18, 2015; 9:56 AM • by Richard Hayes

The Community Idea Station’s Downton Abbey premiere is on Saturday, January 2nd at the Altria Theater. Tickets are free, but people are encouraged to register online to guarantee seating. Tickets are available at www.ideastations.org beginning this Friday at 7 AM.

If you want to be apart of this event you’ll want to take the time to register last year more than 2,700 Downtonians showed up making it the largets Downton Abbey premiere in the entire country.

Here is the original press release:

Downton Abbey fans can don their favorite Roaring Twenties-inspired wardrobe pieces one last time as the Community Idea Stations hosts the show’s final season premiere at the Altria Theater on Saturday, Jan. 2 at 8 p.m.

The free event takes place one day ahead of the official U.S. premiere of drama’s sixth season. Attendees are encouraged to wear hats, gloves and other period dress.

For the first time, attendees will be able to secure guaranteed seating for the free screening by registering online. Last year’s event included more than 2,700 people and was the largest Downton Abbey preview across the U.S.

“What makes the preview celebration particularly remarkable is the overwhelming enthusiasm displayed by the crowd, most of whom are dressed in period attire,” says Curtis Monk president & CEO of the Community Idea Stations. “It is important to us to bring these enriching experiences beyond the broadcast to our community.”

Downton Abbey is part of PBS’ Masterpiece, America’s longest-running weekly prime time drama series, famous for classic adaptations, mysteries and contemporary works. The British period drama was created by Julian Fellowes and is the network’s most successful program ever.

The Jan. 2 event will include an excerpt from Masterpiece’s Mercy Street, which premieres Sunday, Jan. 17 at 10 p.m. after Downton. Mercy Street was filmed in Richmond and is PBS’ first American-made drama in more than a decade.

Downton Abbey fans who want to extend the celebration are invited to a special ticketed reception that begins at 5:30 p.m. Guests at the reception will be treated to early seating. Specialty drinks, Downton Abbey wine and English-inspired hors d’oeuvres, will be served in the Altria Theater’s grand ballroom along with live jazz music and dancing.

“There is something very special about being able to see a television show in a room with fellow fans on the big screen, especially when it is as beautifully made as Masterpiece,” says Katherine Godin Mitchell, director of community engagement for the Community Idea Stations.

Registration for the free preview event and the ticketed registration begins Friday, Nov. 20 at 7 a.m. at ideastations.org.