Over the past two years, the World Drive-In Jamboree has popped up in Pennsylvania and Memphis, but this year Joe Bob Briggs and company (including FANGORIA contributor and Last Drive-In co-host, Diana “Darcy the Mail Girl” Prince, who’ll be serving as the Jamboree’s Executive Director this time around) have decided to take the festivities to Las Vegas, Nevada, the reigning champ-een of party cities. And boy do they have one helluva party planned.
Take it away, press release!
The 3rd annual World Drive-In Movie Festival and Jamboree moves to the West Wind Las Vegas Drive-In this year, with three days of movies, music, live on-stage programming, vendors, dusk-to-dawn sleepovers, camping, barbecues, celebrity guests, cast reunions, and group walking tours led by Joe Bob Briggs, the world’s most famous drive-in movie critic. (Actually the world’s only drive-in movie critic.)
The Jamboree will be held October 6-8 at the drive-in, known for its famous neon archway entrance on Carey Avenue, that opened in 1966 with a Doris Day/Burt Lancaster double feature and eventually expanded to six screens that can accommodate almost a thousand cars.
Tickets for this year’s World Drive-In Jamboree will are on sale now via this link. What sort of experience do those tickets provide? We’re glad you asked!
Founded by Briggs in 2021, the Jamboree has previously been held at the Mahoning Drive-In in eastern Pennsylvania and the Malco Summer Drive-In in Memphis, but this year’s Executive Director Diana Prince, better known as “Darcy the Mail Girl” on the Shudder streaming series “The Last Drive-In,” said “It was time to bring the celebration out west and kick things up a notch.”
“This is a huge drive-in, and that’s enabled us to slash admission prices for fans and have a much bigger party in the city known for its parties,” said Prince. “We’ll be announcing guests and programming throughout the summer, but anyone purchasing tickets prior to June 22 will get an early-bird discount rate. We want to fill up the West Wind with the most fanatic drive-in lovers in America.”
Winners in the World Drive-In Movie Festival will be screened opening night, Friday, October 6, and presented with Joe Bob’s coveted “Hubbie,” inscribed on a vintage Chevy hubcap. Submissions for the film festival are free, and will be accepted beginning today, May 22, and continuing through July 14. Rules for the competition, and instructions for on-line submission, are at https://filmfreeway.com/WorldDriveInMovieFestival.
Saturday will be the traditional live double feature in the style of “The Last Drive-In,” with celebrity guests and ongoing commentary by Joe Bob and Darcy, but in keeping with the tradition of the show, the movie titles aren’t being announced in advance.
Sunday is the Sleepaway Camp 40th Birthday Party with a cast and crew reunion of the 1983 cult classic, followed by a dusk-to-dawn marathon of all four “Sleepaway Camp” movies. Vendor tents and celebrity signing areas will be on-site this year.
This sounds like an awesome event! Three straight days of Joe Bob Briggs shenanigans, movie screenings, winners being crowned, barbeque being eaten, and celebrity guests – and it’s all in Las Vegas! We can’t imagine a better pairing for this particular event and that particular city, and we will now commence petitioning FANGORIA’s corporate overlords to fly the entire staff out to attend.
If you’d like to learn more about this year’s World Drive-In Jamboree or pick up your own tickets, head on over to this link. Stay tuned for more on this excellent-sounding event as further updates roll in! See ya out there?
