Bantam 2024

All Roads Lead To Bantam

The Coopers Lake Campground sprawls out for around 500 acres just west of Interstate 79 in western Pennsylvania. Although not a full-time campground, the area does host numerous events during the year and is well-known for reenactment and live action role playing gatherings such as Aethelmearc and DrachenFest, as well as a The Band Jam Grass Roots bluegrass festival.

And, of course, the place is equally well-known for the annual Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival.

The event, now in its 13th incarnation is slated for June 7-9 and, once again, will be stuffed full of all kinds of things for attendees to do for those three days.

Registration is still open for the event through Friday, May 3, and you can secure your spot here for the 2024 Bantam Heritage Jeep Festival.

For 2024, organizers have stuffed the weekend with a ton of things to do. This means plenty of Jeep-related activites like on-site trails, military history encampment, poker run, educational boot camp, downhill Barbee Jeep Race, Jeep-n-Seek scavenger hunt, Jeep Team Challenge games and Jeep Safari ride.

Additionally, Bantam is well-known for bringing top vendors to the area, and for constructing a fun and engaging playground spot for all types of Jeeps and driver abilities. Also, the hugely popular Bantam Mud Pit will once again be sponsored by Quadratec, and is set to test drivers (and their vehicles) over the three-day event.

If that wasn’t enough, nearby Butler, Pennsylvania is widely considered the birthplace of Jeep, and will have another Invasion event Saturday night where participants can register to take part in a Jeep parade, then park and help fill up the town with thousands of vehicles — creating a sight that needs to be experienced.

Throughout the weekend, there are the obligatory Best of Bantam awards for all category Jeeps, but there are also numerous trails around the area that showgoers can register to attend and run. There is also that rock-crawling, mud-splashing Jeep playground that offers three different path levels where people can experience off-camber berms, log crossings, rocks and then larger boulders. If you register to participate in the playground, please note your vehicle needs to have recovery points, you know, just in case.

Nearby the playground is a field with a cut-out grass path where people can participate in the Jeep Team Challenge, requiring drivers and passengers to complete a series of ‘games’ to earn points to try and take home a top-five plaque.

Then, just up the path from the playground is a cream-colored hanger that contains nearly all forms of Jeep grills through the years, as well as numerous Jeep builds that people have loaned the event for the weekend. And right outside that area is a full-out World War 2 Jeep reenactment camping area.

And, of course, filling in the entire area around all these things are plenty of vendors providing product information, selling stuff like beef jerky, cigars, clothing, home improvements, signs, and plenty of other items.

For everything the event has to offer, you can check here for the full Bantam Heritage Jeep Festival activity list.

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