Butler, Pennsylvania lights up each year when thousands of Jeeps invade for the annual Jeep Fest weekend. Jeep owners and 4-wheeling aficionados flock from around the country for this premier event. The Bantam Jeep Festival runs from June 12-14, 2015 and entries were just opened online today.
Jeep Invasion
Open to everyone, the event opens with a Jeep Parade into downtown Butler. In 2011, the first year of the Bantam Jeep Festival, 1,106 Jeeps were in the parade and set a Guinness World’s Record. Each year the event has grown and this year, being the 75th anniversary of the first Bantam Jeep made in Butler, the organizers plan to double the size of the parade, eclipsing their own Guinness record.
“The Jeep’s 75th birthday is the perfect time to attempt to break our record,” said Patti Jo Lambert, festival director. “Jeep owners still can’t stop talking about the fun they had making history during the first Festival. We’re excited to repeat this special event, so we can bring more notoriety to Butler as the birthplace of the Jeep. The parade will be the signature event for the Bantam Jeep’s 75th Birthday Bash.”
Food and memorabilia vendors line the main street in Butler. Multiple bands entertain, and it’s a great wholesome night for the entire family.
But that’s just the start
To really get in the spirit of the weekend, join a few thousand of your closest friends and spend the weekend at Cooper’s Lake Campgrounds – site of most of the other official activities. Sites, especially those with electric hookups go early, so reserve your spot now. You’ll be right next to all the action. [Google map of the campground]
Jeep Festival continues all weekend
Participate in road rallies, off-road rides, and various competitions. Try to balance your Jeep on a car-sized teeter totter, drive blind-folded through an obstacle course or try having your navigator balance of pan of water while you drive over piles of logs. Gals love to 4-wheel too, and many events have special prizes for best female entries.
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If you’ve got a serious off-road worthy Jeep, be sure to enter the Jeep Playground where waist-deep mud, giant rock piles and more await you. Or sign up for escorted excursions through some serious off-road paths in the forest.
No Jeep? NO problem. Local dealers have Jeeps available for free test drives through the woods and on some off-road trails.
How about the kids?
Lots to do for them as well, including their own pint-size race course with four-wheel pedal carts and more. They’ll also enjoy wandering through the military encampment with lots of WWII equipment and re-enactors to explain what it was like.
There’s also a whole series of biking, hiking, disc golfing and canoeing adventures scheduled just across the highway in Moraine State Park.
It’s an event for the ages
With all there is to do, you’ll want to spend the weekend. Special rates are available while they last when you register for the event. Registration is open now.