Butler County will host a homecoming for the Jeep this August with the first Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival.

Jeeps, jeeps and more jeeps will be the focus of the long weekend event as owners and enthusiasts return to the place where engineers and manufacturers first put the iconic chassis on wheels at the American Bantam Co. on Hansen Avenue.

The festival, the brainchild of Jack Cohen, executive director of the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau, will run from Aug. 12 to 14, with a Jeep parade on Main Street.

As of May 19, 621 Jeeps from 24 states and three countries — India, Argentina and Canada — had registered to participate in the parade. Participants will receive a plaque for their vehicles commemorating their place in the parade.

The parade will begin at Butler County Community College and proceed with the help of both the Butler and Butler Township police to South Main Street, where the Rodfathers, the Butler-based car club that hosts the city's annual Cruise-A-Palooza, will take over and help park the Jeeps on Main Street.

Other events slated for the Butler Fair Grounds on Route 422 in Prospect include off-road driving courses, parts vendors and a Jeep history display.

The festival will feature a concert with the Fabulous Thunderbirds, who had hits in the 1980s, “Tuff Enuff,” and “Wrap it Up.” The band will take the stage at 9:30 p.m. Aug. 13.

Other acts that evening leading up the headliner will be: Sydney Hutchko, a country musician from Butler, at 5:45 p.m.; 6:45 p.m., the Joe Zelek Band, picked by Clear Channel Radio as an artist to watch in January; and Pittsburgh's own Billy Price Band comes on at 8 p.m. The concert will end with fireworks.

General lawn seats are included in the $7 adult and $3 child festival admission tickets. Reserved seating for an additional $10 can be bought online through the festival website through Aug. 11 and at the gate on Aug. 13. Concert goers can bring lawn chairs and blankets.

Beer will be sold during the show, so coolers and outside food are not allowed.

Downtown Butler, the city's Main Street program, is sponsoring a Jeep art project, and wooden Jeep models can be bought or sponsored and then decorated. The finished models will be featured throughout the city before, during and after the festival.

Cohen said the festival will kickoff with a dinner Aug. 4 at the VA Butler Healthcare campus on New Castle Road, Butler Township. Former Pittsburgh Steeler Rocky Bleier will be emcee for the event.

The VA is inviting all of the county's 350 World War II veterans to attend.