What started as a celebration of Jeep’s legacy in 2016 and quickly turned into a Toledo tradition is on its way back for another year.
Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, Lucas County commissioners, and other city leaders announced the return of Toledo Jeep Fest for its eighth year at a news conference Wednesday. The festival will be from Aug. 1 to 3.
“You can go anywhere and say the word ‘Jeep’ in any language and people know what you’re talking about,” Commissioner Pete Gerken said at the conference. “It’s iconic. It’s built by our people. It will always be built by our people.”
Mr. Kapszukiewicz said he’s proud of Jeep’s history in Toledo, which started during World War II.
When the war started, the Army needed all-terrain vehicles, which weren’t available back then, he said.
Of all the automobile manufacturers in the country, Mr. Kapszukiewicz said, it was “the little old Willys-Overland company in Toledo that won that contract for the general purpose vehicle, or GPV.”
“We’re proud of the fact that we invented the machine that won World War II,” the mayor said. “We’re proud of the fact that we not only invented the Jeep but we have never not made it in this city.”
“Jeep Fest isn’t just about Jeep,” said Whitney Rofkar, event and development director of the Toledo Jeep Fest. “It’s really about the people, about the work force, and about our great city. We make these in Toledo, and we want to celebrate that.”
All of the event’s staples are set to return in August including the All-Jeep Parade, vendor midway, indoor Jeep exhibit, and Glass City Crawlers Block Party as well as live entertainment, food trucks, and kid and family zones.
On top of all of the festival’s staples, the planning committee is introducing two new activities, Ms. Rofkar said, one showcasing strength and the other featuring dogs.
The first is a strongman competition during the Glass City Crawlers Block Party on Aug. 1. It will be hosted by Marcus Waugh, a Toledo firefighter who won the World’s Strongest Firefighter strongman competition in 2024.
“We’re going to have a strongman competition where they’re lifting and pulling Jeeps,” Ms. Rofkar said. “Instead of a concrete ball, they’re going to make a concrete duck mold to carry. ... I think this is going to be a fun crowd-pleaser to bring some fun and excitement and a new element to the Glass City Crawlers kickoff block party Friday night.”
Mr. Waugh is hosting the competition through WaughStrong, an organization that aims to raise money and awareness for mental health issues for firefighters and veterans, he said.
Police officers, firefighters, and veterans from across the nation will participate in challenges including deadlifting Jeeps and squatting with car axles that have Jeep tires on them, he said.
“We have sandbags ranging from 100 pounds all the way up to 400 pounds,” Mr. Waugh said. “The athletes will try their best to get the heaviest bag they can over their shoulder.”
The competition will also have custom-made stone rubber ducks for strongmen to hold in front of themselves for as long as they can.
This isn’t the first time WaughStrong has hosted a competition, but it’s the first time with a Toledo Jeep Fest, he said. A strongman competition in 2024 was able to raise about $5,000 for charities like Forgotten Heroes, he said.
“Jeep was made for our soldiers overseas that were fighting during World War II,” Mr. Waugh said. “Now that we’re able to kind of bring it full circle, to actually have an event for veterans and first responders at the Jeep Fest, I think it’s pretty cool.”
The second new feature is a playground area for dogs, which will include an agility course, watering station, and dog houses made by Penta Career Center students, Ms. Rofkar said.
“We’re partnering with Zoom Room [Dog Training] to have a dog agility course where you could be a spectator and just see dogs run the agility course or you could bring your own dog to run, which would be cool,” she said.
The Jeep-themed dog houses made by Penta students will be auctioned off during the festival, Ms. Rofkar said.
“People will have their chance to win one of these dozen dog houses, which is fun,” she said.
The Toledo Jeep Fest Express, in partnership with the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority, is returning for its fourth year, said Laura Koprowski, chief executive officer of TARTA.
The express will run from Franklin Park Mall and Starr Elementary School in Oregon, she said. A round trip ride will be $3.
“TARTA is so proud, so thankful to be a part of this,” Ms. Koprowski said.
Bruce Baumhower, president of United Auto Workers Local 12 and a member of Toledo Jeep Fest board of directors, said he remembers when he got the idea for the event.
He was cleaning out file cabinets at a union hall when he came across a magazine about Jeep from 1948, he said.
“I’m flipping through it, and one of my members walks in and goes, ‘What you looking at?’” Mr. Baumhower recalled. “This magazine was 50 years of celebration of Jeep from 1948 to 1998. We both looked at each other and said, ‘Well hell, this is year ... We ought to do something.’”
“Local 12 put in the first $10,000 and then I called county Commissioner [Pete] Gerken, and he matched our $10,000,” Mr. Baumhower said. “Then Mercy Hospital gave us $30,000 to be the title sponsor. ... We raised $50,000 in 10 minutes. We knew we had something. If you can pick up $50,000 from three phone calls, it must be an attractive thing.”
He added that he’s had fun over the years looking at the different addresses of people who have registered for the festival.
When the event first started, more than 40,000 people came to downtown Toledo, he said. By the end of Toledo Jeep Fest 2024, the festival drew 78,000 participants nationwide and internationally, Mr. Baumhower said.
“It’s been an amazing run,” he said. “We’re averaging 70,000 [a year]. ... It’s showing how it’s growing in interest nationwide.”
Mercy Health Toledo will return as the festival’s sponsor, which it did for the first Toledo Jeep Fest.
Bob Baxter, president of Mercy Health Toledo, said he marvels at the event’s growth since its inaugural in 2016.
“We’ve been in the community, this ministry has, and we’ve had the chance to serve the community for almost 170 years,” Mr. Baxter said. “We consider ourselves an anchor institution, and we want to support those things that are in the DNA of the Toledo community.”
When the opportunity came for the hospital to sponsor the event once again, Mr. Baxter said, the organization’s leadership asked: “Why does this make sense for us?”
The answer was simple, he said.
“Jeep is just central to our identity of Toledo, collectively,” Mr. Baxter said. “I think this event offers an opportunity to recognize the brand and, more importantly, the men and women who work there.”
First Published March 12, 2025, 10:21 p.m.
