Jeep Jam is expected to bring a large fall crowd to Myrtle Beach this weekend: organizers anticipate roughly 5,000 Jeeps and about 30,000 attendees for the festival’s ninth year. The three-day event at the former Myrtle Square Mall site will include vendors, food trucks and an off-road course, alongside Halloween displays, a parade and a costume contest for people and dogs.
The dates themselves have drawn some confusion this year. abcnews4.com reports the main festival runs Friday through Sunday, Oct. 30 through Nov. 1, while the Post and Courier describes the event as a three-day run from Oct. 29 through 31. Either way, the gathering is centered at the old mall site on N. Kings Highway, a location that puts vendors and the obstacle course just a block from the beach, according to Jeep Jam founder Steve Taylor as reported by the Post and Courier.
Spectator admission runs $10 per day, with children under 12 getting in free, per the station's report. Visitors don't need to own a Jeep to take part, and more than 120 vendors will be on hand along with food trucks and Halloween activities throughout the grounds.
Halloween Takes Center Stage
Halloween has become a defining feature of Jeep Jam in recent years. Philip Van der Vossen of NS Promotions & Events, which hosts the event according to Grand Strand Magazine, told the Post and Courier that Halloween is a major part of Jeep Jam and that organizers have added new activities to lean into the holiday.
The Myrtle Beach Halloween Parade kicks off Thursday at 6:30 p.m. along Ocean Boulevard and will feature 125 elaborately decorated Jeeps, per the station's report. A trunk-or-treat event follows Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. on the event grounds, and the costume contest — open to adults, children, groups and dogs — is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. Weekend activities also include a haunted trail, Jurassic Park-themed displays, poker runs, and the Proving Grounds obstacle course and mud pit, which the event's own listing describes as a test of driving skill for both participants and spectators. A Sunrise Beach Crawl also lets a limited 300 Jeep drivers per day take their vehicles onto the sand.
A Tourism Play for the Offseason
Jeep Jam has grown steadily since launching in 2018, and the event's organizers reported that the 2024 edition drew visitors from 40 states and generated an estimated $8 million in direct economic impact and $12.5 million in total financial benefits for the region. This year's event is expected to draw visitors from 40 states and two Canadian provinces, with roughly 65% coming from outside South Carolina, according to the Post and Courier's reporting, which also cites a $12.5 million economic impact figure and 7,500 hotel room nights tied to the event.
Those projections come as Myrtle Beach looks to sustain visitor demand. Tourism in the city fell 3% in 2025, WMBF News reported. The Post and Courier separately reported that summer hotel occupancy was down 2.1% year over year and accommodations tax collections fell nearly 9%. The newspaper also reported that Visit Myrtle Beach forecasts another 3% occupancy decline in 2026 and is targeting markets within driving distance.
Jeep Jam founder Steve Taylor told the Post and Courier that the event attracts older visitors who spend money in the area. For Myrtle Beach, the gathering is one of several efforts to bring visitors beyond the summer season.
Reading the Tourism Numbers
A direct comparison between October and the summer peak—or other parts of the year—needs caution: the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and CVB says holidays and changes in the timing of major events can affect year-over-year lodging comparisons. The figures cited for Jeep Jam therefore describe the event’s expected or estimated contribution, not a like-for-like measure of October tourism against the rest of the year.
The CVB says its regionwide tourism-impact estimates include indirect and induced effects, such as business supply chains and employee household spending. That describes the CVB’s broader regional accounting; it does not establish that the same categories are included in Jeep Jam’s reported $12.5 million event estimate.
Why Jeep Owners Return
The draw for some visitors is a longstanding attachment to the brand. Buddy Jackson, a U.S. Army veteran attending Jeep Jam for the first time, told the Post and Courier that his last four vehicles were Jeeps and he plans to stick with the brand. Tony Sapienza, Stellantis vice president of North America brand communications, described Jeep ownership as a source of shared adventure and belonging, the newspaper reported. Stellantis announced a major Jeep rebranding plan Wednesday. Jeep organizes more than 50 major festivals annually, and regional gatherings also take place in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
The brand’s history dates to World War II: the American Bantam Car Company created the original design, and Willys-Overland later won the contract for mass wartime production, according to the Post and Courier. The Jeep name was trademarked in 1945, and the CJ, or Civilian Jeep, series introduced the brand to the public. The newspaper reports that nearly 1 million Jeeps are on U.S. roads.
A comparison with another large gathering offers a sense of the potential scale of Jeep-focused events, though its figures should not be treated as a forecast for Myrtle Beach. A 2023 economic-impact study found Florida’s Jeep Beach generated a base impact of $124.41 million for Volusia County, or $348.35 million using a standard destination multiplier, according to a Daytona Beach economic-impact report. The study also found Jeep Beach attendees tended to spend more time downtown and use local beach amenities.
