Joe Bob Briggs and Virgil Cardamone, partner and chief programmer for the beloved , are teaming up to bring you the first annual Joe Bob’s Drive-In Jamboree, a three-day event billed as “the drive-in Woodstock,” on July 16-18, 2021.
The three-day event will include an indie festival for guerrilla filmmakers, a live double-feature hosted by Joe Bob, a family-friendly “haunted drive-in” event with live zombies and monsters, and days filled with bands, cosplay contests, custom cars, free seminars conducted by professionals for ultra-low-budget filmmakers, movie memorabilia vendors, sideshow attractions, and the presentation of the Joe Bob Briggs Lifetime Achievement Award, better known as the Hubbie–because it’s engraved on a Chevy hubcap.
Tickets will go on sale in April.
“We’re calling this The Gathering of the Mutants,” said Briggs. “As I’ve traveled around the country the last three years, meeting our fans at conventions and live shows, they’ve all expressed a hunger for getting away from their on-line lives and celebrating the movies and sub-cultures that we all love. What better place than the Mahoning Drive-in, saved from extinction because a handful of film fans put their lives on hold and worked for free to preserve it?”
“We are honored to host Joe Bob’s incredible fandom here at The Mahoning Drive-in as part of our 2021 season,” said Cardamone. “This ever-growing legend of The
Mahoning is strengthened each year by setting the bar for what a classic drive-in can represent in the new era, and teaming with a king of the culture like Joe Bob Briggs and The Last Drive-in crew to deliver a one of a kind experience will be nothing short of epic!”
The story of the Mahoning Drive-In is told in the award-winning
documentary At the Drive-In, directed by Alexander Monelli, dramatizing how
the property opened in 1949 only to be threatened by closure in 2014 when the film
world went digital. A determined group of film enthusiasts turned it into a retro 35-
millimeter destination and the gamble paid off, thanks to their unmatched programming and dedication to the fan experience, so that they eventually earned a reputation as “America’s Coolest Drive-in.”
The Mahoning is nestled in the ridge-and-valley region of the Appalachian Mountains,an area rich with history dating from the eras of coal mines, railroads and factories clustered along the Lehigh River. The nearby town of Jim Thorpe, which bills itself as “the Switzerland of America” because of its location on a steep mountain incline, is a popular tourist spot.