Welcome to our History! The Harvest Moon is an Authentic Drive-in Theater Serving Central Illinois!

The World Famous Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in began life 67 years ago as a dream when it opened July 9th 1954.

Founders Clifford and Joyce Orr started a tradition of outdoor movies in central Illinois that would continue for decades. The Orr's noticed the drive-in craze taking shape all over the country in the late 40's and early 50's and jumped all in. Clifford also owned and operated the only indoor movie house in Gibson City at the time. He took his passion for motion pictures and desire to bring joy to families and used the combination to create the Harvest Moon. That Spark ignited something even Clifford could not have predicted.

The Orr family operated the Harvest Moon from it's inception in 1954 through the end of the 60's when declining attendance forced the theater to close. 

The theatre was operated by another local businessman in the late 70's before it was closed due to a lack of interest once again. 

Clifford kept his eye on theater as time and the weather took it's toll. In the early 80's the Village of Gibson City Beautification committee decided the drive-in was an eyesore and sent someone to demolish the screen tower. With luck and some faith from the contractor, Clifford caught them before it could be taken down and the screen stood strong waiting for another dreamer to bring it back to life.

The Harvest Moon continues to withstand the tests of time surviving a tornado in the 1960's, the advent of Cable TV, VHS, DVD, Bluray and now online streaming of shows and movies. 

 In 1989, the Harvest Moon was reborn as the dream of local Businessman Mike Harroun. 

He had successfully run 3 indoor theatres while holding down a full time job, and wanted a place where his young sons would be able to enjoy movies in a safe and fun environment. After cashing out his life savings, borrowing from friends and family, and putting his dream on the line, the Harvest Moon Came back to life as a single screen drive-in in the spring of 1989. Thousands of hours of hard work, the help of friends and the community led to the revival of the aging drive-in theatre.

In 1996, The Harvest Moon became a twin drive-in after erecting a second Screen. The screen originally came from the Starlite Drive-in in Kankakee, and spent a few years at the Clinton Drive-in before arriving at the Harvest Moon.

Nearly two decades later, The Harvest Moon was converted to digital projection in 2013 thanks to the help of thousands of supporters across the country and a loan from the bank. Over $250,000 in upgrades have helped to make the Harvest Moon the premier outdoor theatre in central Illinois.  4k Ultra HD picture, digital 5.1 surround sound via a FM Stereo Transmitter, and that nostalgic 50's atmosphere combine the past and present each night at the World Famous Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in; Open March-October each year. 

It's no secret that the Covid-19 Pandemic has forced a myriad of changes to our world in 2020. The drive-in is no exception. State mandates kept the drive-in shuttered until mid-May of 2020. With no new movies being released and our lives turned upside down, the staff at the drive-in completely revamped our operation to bring out the best hope we could provide for our local drive-in family.

2020 introduced a completely different set of events to the drive-in lineup. We started offering graduation events, religious services, weddings and private events for many groups both during the day and once the sun set. 

With no new releases, we brought back some fan favorite movies, retro classics and truly old school movies to the delight of thousands. 

In 2020 we also brought in live music for the first time since 2012. We hosted several live concerts including the first drive-in in the midwest to host a live show in a covid safe drive-in environment. In addition to some big national acts and local favorites, we also brought huge performers to the big screens with our Encore Drive-in Nights concert series showcasing artists from Garth Brooks to Metallica.

The Harroun family officially purchased the land the drive-in sits on in 2020 with a vow to keep it open for future generations.

In 2022 the drive-in continues our legacy of quality entertainment under the stars as we continue to navigate the Covid Pandemic and constantly changing environment.

The Harvest Moon has had a very interesting past over the nearly 7 decades of operation. 

One of our favorite stories involves the tornado that hit the theater directly in the summer of 1966. Like a scene from the movie Twister, the tornado came from just beyond the screen and did extensive damage including tearing the face of the screen off(leaving the metal frame intact), taking the roof off of the Snack Bar building and leveling all of the fence.

After arriving at the theater and surveying the damage, founder Clifford Orr drew on his witty humor, and put 'Gone with the Wind' on the marquee as he prepared to rebuild the theater better and stronger.

Rumor has it, the drive-in scene in the movie 'Twister' was based on the real life tornado here at the Harvest Moon.

As Forrest Gump once famously stated: One day it started raining...

In the late summer of 2021 the Harvest Moon suffered another unique weather disaster. With a storm system hanging over the area and dropping 12+ inches of rain over a 5 hour period much of the town and the drive-in all flooded for the first time in our history. 

Thanks to great drainage and design by founder Clifford Orr, the water receded in 24 hours after flooding 95% of the lot. Some areas had just inches of water while others had 4 plus feet of water.

The historic flood damaged thousands of dollars in supplies, merchandise and equipment. The drive-in however, has the same determined owners as our founder was decades earlier. 

The operators, with assistance of friends and family moved, cleaned and resupplied the theater so it could re-open just days after the flood.

The Harvest Moon lives on!

The Harvest Moon has hosted many unique events over the course of our history- weddings, engagements, worship services, live performances, flea markets, car shows and vendor events.

In 2022 we are adding some new things to our roster with the new Junk in the Trunk Sunday markets. On the 4th Sunday of the month in May- October, the drive-in will host our market from 9 am - 1pm. Vendors can bring in an assortment of goodies to offer patrons. Vendor spots are just $10 for the day and admission to the event is free to the public. 

Watch for more details as we get closer to our new event dates.