The Jeep is coming home to Butler in 2011.

Jack Cohen, executive director of the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau, announced this morning that a new Jeep Heritage Festival will be here Aug. 11, 12 and 13, 2011.

He believes it could attract between 5,000 and 15,000 Jeep enthusiasts in the first year.

Cohen said he and Sandy Gadzia, the bureau's director of sales, have been meeting with Downtown Butler; Mayor Maggie Stock; the Butler County Historical Society; Lee Bortmas and Bob Brandon, both car historians; and representatives of Chrysler on the festival.

The three-day event, which Cohen said he believes "in a couple of years can easily become a weeklong event," will make the Butler Fairgrounds on Route 422 its main location.

"There we can have all the cars and after-market vendors for four-wheel vehicles, plus the four-wheel driving course," Gadzia said.

They also hope that Chrysler will bring its newest line of Jeeps for display.