Vineland drive-in earns national nomination, spotlighting Cumberland County landmark

Vineland’s Delsea Drive-In has landed on USA Today’s 10Best ballot for best drive-in theater, a nomination that could send more visitors to South Delsea Drive and give Cumberland County a rare national spotlight. For a venue that has become one of New Jersey’s last links to the drive-in era, the public vote is about more than bragging rights. It could mean more spring and summer attendance, more business spillover for Vineland, and another push to preserve a landmark that still helps define the city’s identity.

The Delsea is not just another nostalgic stop. It is New Jersey’s only remaining drive-in movie theater, and local coverage says the state once had 46 drive-ins. Nationally, the business has shrunk from more than 4,000 theaters in the 1950s to fewer than 400 today. That makes the Delsea part of a much larger story about how quickly a once-common American pastime disappeared, and why surviving examples now carry unusual cultural weight. The first drive-in theater in the United States opened in Pennsauken in 1933, giving New Jersey deep roots in the format.

The theater opened on April 29, 1949 as a 700-car drive-in, with its first shows including Drums and Midnite Serenade. It closed in July 1987, then reopened on July 23, 2004 after a revival led by Dr. John DeLeonardis and Jude DeLeonardis. A second screen was added in 2008, extending the venue’s life as the business marked its 20th anniversary since reopening. New Jersey Monthly has described John and Jude DeLeonardis as the owner-operators keeping the Garden State’s last drive-in legacy alive. One local report said the business runs on a razor-thin margin, a reminder that preservation has an economic cost as well as a cultural payoff.

The Delsea typically operates seasonally from about mid-March through November, which makes spring voting and early-season publicity especially important. Its old-school atmosphere, snack bar, and double and triple features give families, couples and movie fans a reason to make the trip, often from beyond Cumberland County. The theater has been described as less than an hour from Atlantic City, Philadelphia and Delaware, turning it into a regional destination as much as a Vineland landmark. If the Delsea places well in the national poll, the result could strengthen attendance and reinforce what local supporters already know: South Jersey’s last drive-in is still part of the county’s living economy and its public identity.