Big changes rocked a local theatre this week.

General manager Amber Wigg with Okotoks Cinemas says Tuesday's announcement of no more Restrictions Exemption Program (REP) came a bit suddenly.

"Actually, I was surprised because I haven't been paying attention to the news as much as I should. So suddenly I was like, 'Whoa, we're getting rid of the REP program. This is amazing.' So I'm very excited to welcome back some of the people that we haven't seen in a while. It's quite exciting."

Anyone is able to come to the theatre and enjoy their food and drinks without having to show their vaccination status, which Wigg says is a huge relief.

"It wasn't very fun to have to do that for people, so it's nice to eliminate that requirement."

The one thing they are keeping around is a buffer seat between customers.

"With not having to have the REP program anymore, we're still going to keep that buffer seat, and just allow people to ease into getting comfortable being in a public setting again cause we know some people are still working on their comfort level with that."

Wigg says they are also considering bringing back some of the movies that people missed during the REP program.