OCEAN CITY – A variety of events, including new attractions, are planned for this year’s Ocean City Jeep Week, which gets underway Thursday and runs through the weekend.
Event partners Chris Cropper, Will Lynch and Brad Hoffman have spent months planning this weekend’s event and creating new, starting with the new 50-acre Jeep Jam Obstacle Course located at the Mid-Atlantic Youth SportsPlex (MAYS) in Pittsville located at 6605 Morris Road off Route 50.
“Our team has created a Jeep wonderland, with trails and obstacles to challenge the mild or the wild. Don’t be intimidated. You can take small trails or crawl over rocks and telephone poles. Special thanks goes out to course builders Chris Cropper of CC Customs, Chris Russell of Superior Contracting, and John DeForce,” said Hoffman.
Another huge new component for the event is a 42,000-square-foot Beach Obstacle Course in Ocean City facing Somerset Street. Jeff Pruitt and Live Wire Media & Events have devised a fun sand course that the whole family can enjoy, with the pier and Ferris wheel as your backdrop.
Also new this year will be the addition of title sponsor Berlin i.g. Burton Jeep, which will have a huge presence at the event with staffers on hand to help with test drives at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center in Ocean City from Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
One of the event’s biggest draws each year is the Kicker Zone, where the title audio sponsor brings a tractor-trailer full of audio equipment. It’s a mobile audio showroom.
Additionally, 12-time bike trials champion Mike Steadly is scheduled to perform a stunt show adjacent to the Kicker Zone in the convention center’s front parking lot.
Also planned at the convention center will be the largest off-road and 4×4 expo in the mid-Atlantic, including more than 50 vendors like Trick Trucks and Exotic Sound & Tint, manufacturers like Quake LED and factory reps from Alpine installing new head units on-site.
An annual favorite with Ocean City Jeep Week is the daily beach crawls. Jeeps will stage at Jolly Roger amusement park on Thursday, Friday,
Saturday at 7 a.m. Jeeps head across the highway at 8 a.m., and then down the beach for their sandy carpet ride. Nothing’s more beautiful than a line of Jeeps heading down the beach as the sun rises over the Atlantic. This is a sight to be seen.
On Saturday and Sunday at the convention center parking lot, free monster truck rides will be offered for participants and event attendees. The venue is open to the public and tickets will be available at the door.
To close out jeep week will be a huge open house and jeep jam sendoff party at Berlin i.g. Burton Jeep, from 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 26.
“It’s been a pleasure working with the Mayor and Council, and the town’s special events staff, to assemble what’s a shining star for end-of-summer business here in Ocean City,” Hoffman said. “A few short years ago, this pre-Labor Day weekend was slow, now it’s filled with great families. When the Jeeps roll, the registers ring. This event grew from a fledgling gathering of Jeep enthusiasts, to now having well over 1,500 Jeeps, and the biggest off-road vendors and manufacturers in the world, with coverage by major off-road publications, all gathering annually in Ocean City, Md.”
Hoffman has dedicated this year’s event to his sister Wendy, who passed away Aug. 4.
“She was always a presence helping with Jeep Week and a passionate supporter of all my events,” Hoffman said.