Ocean City Jeep Week Returns Thursday; Berlin, Resort Events Planned All Weekend

Ocean City Jeep Week Returns Thursday; Berlin, Resort Events Planned All Weekend
Jeep Parade IMG 3478 08 22 2014

OCEAN CITY – The resort will once again welcome off-road enthusiasts with the 7th Annual Ocean City Jeep Week.

The event, which kicks off Thursday, will feature jeep parades, vintage jeep displays, vendors and multiple off-road opportunities for participants. Event organizer Brad Hoffman says 1,200 people have registered for the festivities, which will draw several thousand more people to the resort.

“It’s an end of summer fling for people into jeeps,” Hoffman said. “We’re on the radar as one of the top five jeep events in the country.”

Ocean City Jeep Week events at the Ocean City Convention Center will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday.

Jeep Week events in nearby Berlin — namely the Berlin Jeep Jam — will run from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday and Friday and from 9 a.m.-8 p.m. on Saturday. For the first time this year, attendees can purchase tickets that will get them into events in both Ocean City and Berlin.

“We were trying to build more value into it,” Hoffman said.

General admission is $10 while two-day passes are available for $15 and three-day passes can be purchased for $20.

The popular jeep beach crawls associated with the event are set for 7:45 a.m. each day and go from 30th Street to the Inlet.

“It’s exciting for the public to watch that,” Hoffman said.

In Berlin, participants can try their jeeps on the trails, mud pits and obstacles set up at the area that is now known as Berlin Falls Park. Hoffman says a challenging obstacle course has again been created by CC Customs. A “King of the Pit” will be named Saturday night after a competition from 6-8 p.m.

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A challenging obstacle course will once again be featured at the Berlin Jeep Jam event. File Photos

“It’s almost like the crowning moment of Jeep Week,” Hoffman said. “It’s very entertaining.”

Though the property the off-road events in Berlin will take place on is now owned by the Town of Berlin, Hoffman says he hopes to offer activities there for another year or two.

“We work well with the Town of Berlin,” he said, adding that organizers were hoping to obtain a piece of land that could serve as a permanent home for the event in the near future.

New during Jeep Week this year is an open house scheduled to take place at Berlin Jeep on Old Ocean City Boulevard. Berlin Jeep, one of Jeep Week’s sponsors, invites participants in from 10 a.m. to noon Sunday to see the dealership’s inventory of off-road vehicles.

In spite of the array of activities offered, Hoffman says the hub of Ocean City Jeep Week will be the Ocean City Convention Center. There, vendors include a variety of industry leaders offering numerous accessories for four-wheel-drive enthusiasts.

“A lot of the stuff they can install right there,” Hoffman said.

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Vendors will be set up at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center lot throughout Jeep Week.

GenRight’s Jordan Pellegrino will also be at the convention center signing autographs.

“He’s a young gun,” Hoffman said, “a rising star.”

The weekend event also includes live entertainment, a vintage jeep display and the chance to see a monster truck being built.

But whether someone’s looking for a Jeep accessories or simply a good show at the mud pit Hoffman says Ocean City Jeep Week is the place to be.

“It’s everything a Jeep person could want,” he said. “It’s entertaining. It’s family fun.”

About The Author: Charlene Sharpe

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Charlene Sharpe has been with The Dispatch since 2014. A graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and the University of Richmond, she spent seven years with the Delmarva Media Group before joining the team at The Dispatch.