The Ave is Downtown Vineland. But it’s much more than just a collection of buildings and businesses. It’s a vibrant and thriving community that is the heart of Vineland.
From locally-owned shops and restaurants to cultural events and natural beauty, The Ave has something for everyone.
Make The Ave Your Third Place
Third Place refers to the social surroundings that are separate from the two usual social environments of home – “first place” and the workplace – “second place”.
The Ave in Downtown Vineland wants to be your Third Place. The Ave offers a vibrant and inviting atmosphere where you can meet up, relax, and connect with friends and family. With its diverse range of local businesses, and engaging events, The Ave provides a welcoming space for people of all ages, whether you’re looking for a great lunch or dinner spot, a unique shopping experience, or just a place to meet friends, The Ave has everything you need to make it your Third Place.
Hot Topics On The Ave
This year’s calendar of events has been finalized!
Lets take a look at the fun to be had in Downtown Vineland for 2025:
—–Cruise Down Memory Lane—This iconic event of The Ave returns for the 33rd time—on Saturday, June 14th (rain date: Sunday, June 15). The Ave will again be filled with millions of dollars of classic cars—on display and cruising. You won’t want to miss this.
—–Running The Ave 5K—Runners from throughout the Delaware Valley will once again converge on downtown Vineland on Sunday, June 22nd, rain or shine, as Cumberland County’s premier road race—fully sanctioned—returns, again organized by Second Capital Running.
—–A Taste of Vineland—Enjoy food—main courses, appetizers, and desserts—from Vineland’s finest restaurants at Main Street Vineland’s signature fundraising event, on Wednesday, October 22nd. It’ll be an evening of fun and fellowship, which will also include a fabulous silent auction and much more.
—–Pumpkin Patch Party—Our annual fall funfest is planned this year for Saturday, October 25th, rain or shine, in the mini-parks at Landis Avenue and the Boulevard. It always brings a lot of kids and their families for a time of good, wholesome fun.
—–Christmas Parade—This is one of our biggest events of the year. It packs The Ave with Christmas good cheer and is the perfect way to start the holiday season. This year, as usual, it’s planned for the Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 29th (rain date: Sunday, November 30th).
Sponsorship opportunities are available for all our events, with sponsorship levels to fit any budget. Please help support these great community events.
Everyone likes the idea of more money in their pocket, especially in this time of inflation. Well, whether you’re a customer or a business, we have a program made for you. It is designed to bring people into our downtown district to discover or rediscover our many businesses and professionals. The goal is to make the registers “ring” by bringing great value to customers and businesses alike.
I’ve mentioned in past columns our participation in the Department of Community Affairs’ Neighborhood Preservation Program (NPP) and the various programs and initiatives that are part of this great program. One of the programs is a gift card matching the Buy One Get One (BOGO) program that we’re calling Ave Bucks. Businesses in the NPP district can sign up their businesses to participate. Through NPP, we will match $25 toward a $50 gift card purchase, or we will match $50 towards a $100 gift card purchase, that may be used at participating businesses. We rolled out this program last year and have spiced it up this year, bringing more value with a $50 BOGO and adding more businesses in our district where you may redeem your “Ave Bucks” gift cards.
We continue adding new businesses in the NPP District that accept the Ave Bucks Gift Cards. Gift cards may be split between any of the businesses or used all at once until your card is exhausted. At press time, the following locations are participating in this program:
- Alex’s Pizza
- Al’s Shoes
- Cilantro Mexican Restaurant
- DeSoto Jewelers
- Landis Flower
- Hernando’s Pharmacy
- Kaycee Ray’s Sports Pub
- IKura Restuarant
- La Chi Massage
- NAPA Auto Parts
- Rair Custom Graphics
- Spot At The Ave
The program is a win for the customer because it doubles that customer’s purchasing power. It’s a win for the merchant because it drives more customers—and more sales—to the business. It’s a win for our downtown and the NPP district because it drives more customer traffic and interest in the area. What could be better?
Return to a Christmas Past!
Costumed characters from the days of Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol create a magical experience of an Olde Fashion Christmas with an International Flair.
Artisan and food vendors, fire pits, Christmas carolers, horse & carriage rides and more.
Join us on Friday, December 6 th and Saturday, December 7 th at the Landis Theater.
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This Week's News
Vineland’s annual Christmas Parade On The Ave did not disappoint.
The weather was a perfect November cold evening, one that made you yearn for some hot chocolate or something to warm you up afterwards. A perfect night for welcoming in the holiday season.
With over 100 parade participants, our crowd was entertained by marching bands, walkers, floats, cars, horses, fire trucks and the true guests of honor—Santa and Mrs. Claus. Lasting about 1-1/2 hours the parade started at 2 nd street down to East Avenue. Santa, with his magic wand in hand, was raised up to the stings of red and green lights on the Fire Station’s ladder truck and magically lit all of the lights when the children’s count hit the number 3 (1-2-3 and then the magic happened).
If you missed seeing the parade in person, you can watch it still online. Our thanks go out to Vineland
High School and BFA Productions who announces and filmed the events. Both videos are available to
watch at the following URL’s.
VHS: https://www.youtube.com/live/hAvl6DHAH98?si=6gnKjqOVrFJcMEWE
BFA: https://www.youtube.com/live/7vU3Had3Als
Although it was a very competitive battle, we are pleased to announce our float winners for 2024:
GRAND DIVISION:
First Place: R & R Flaim Next Generation Produce & Flaim Farms
Second Place: Dixon’s Dance Academy
Third Place: The Dolores Romero Cancer Foundation
PETITE DIVISION:
First Place: Veterans Memorial School
Second Place: Cumberland County 4-H
Third Place: Johnstone Jaguars Middle School
A parade of this size and magnitude takes a tremendous amount of work and effort all year long. I want to thank our parade chairman, Carl Hemple and all of our staff and volunteers who pour in hours of work for many months to make this go as smooth as possible. And a very heartfelt thank you to all of the great City Department personnel, led by Mayor Fanucci—OEM, Fire & Police Departments, EMS.
Public Works, Engineering, Electric Utility, Health Department, Trash and Recycling.
A huge thank you to the VDID staff and to our many volunteers who work through the cold weather for many many hours to ensure that all goes smoothly. We had over 40 volunteers assist us—from parade captains to announcers and many others. We could not have done it without you.
