BUTLER (KDKA) – To celebrate the birth of the Jeep, a local community is hosting a festival.

A parade of about 1,200 Jeeps will be featured in a festival in Butler to honor the vehicle’s historic past.

Butler was the home of the American Bantam Car Co. and in 1940 they completed the first prototype of the Jeep as the Army sought to create a light vehicle for all-terrain use.

Even though Bantam lost out to Willys-Overland and Ford to build most of the Jeeps during the war, organizers of the first Jeep Festival don’t want to the automaker and Butler to be forgotten.

The festival runs through Sunday.

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Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival