ELKHART — Casino nights, hog roasts, live bands, catered meals, golf and new products will accompany acres upon acres upon acres of RVs greeting thousands of dealers at the ever-growing RV Open House Week this week.

@Normal:RVs will line C.R. 6 on Elkhart’s northeast side, but the events will spread beyond that, to Elkhart’s south side, Nappanee, Middlebury and Shipshewana.

Last year an estimated crowd of more than 3,000 dealers attended the informal string of events in Elkhart County, and the biggest exhibitors, Forest River and Thor, expect the crowd to be even larger this year. Forest River has 75 more dealers registered this year, meaning about 500 more registered attendees, and they were still getting last-minute additions Friday, according to a company spokeswoman.

The displays will be larger, with new models coming from nearly everyone, at least one new RV company joining in, and a new RV factory highlighted.

While the events are geared toward dealers and not the public, the sheer scale highlights the RV industry in Elkhart County, which is the industry’s core.

“What it really does is, because of the tents and the units out here, we have a lot of visitors that come by and they end up coming through,” said Darryl Searer, head of the RV/MH Hall of Fame, which is the site for the Thor Industries brands. “After Thor’s show is over Great Lakes is going to stay here and it will be open to the public,” Searer said.

During the events Tuesday through Thursday, Thor, Forest River and Winnebago will run shuttles. Thor and Forest River buy hotel rooms for their dealers, and most of the manufacturers feed people.

While the bulk of RV Open House Week runs Tuesday through Thursday, some events start Monday this year.

Gulf Stream Coach starts Monday morning at breakfast with a party at the Gulf Stream complex in Nappanee, where they’ll offer dealers golf, fishing, cocktails and casino action until midnight at the Gulf Stream Country Club. “We’ll have close to 75 RVs on our property. We have a country club on our property,” said Tim Denning, the company’s national sales manager.

And that doesn’t count the company’s RV display on C.R. 6 Tuesday through Thursday.

KZ RV will also host dealers Monday at its headquarters and on C.R. 6, and Open Range RV will unveil its 10,000th unit Monday morning and kick off its display at noon.

Suppliers Coast Distribution and Husky Towing Products will have a barbecue Monday evening.

As the event continues to grow, it spills over into the community, especially for lodging and catering services.

“We’re definitely pleased to have it. We definitely feel a surge in business that week, both at the hotel as well as our catering service as well as our dining room,” said Lance Miller, president of Das Dutchman Essenhaus. Their inn will house RV dealers, and their catering service will provide food for manufacturers to serve dealers.

“We’re very thankful and pleased for it and it’s good for the community,” Miller said.

Here are some of the highlights for various RV manufacturers.

Thor Industries

@Normal:Featured brands: Keystone, Breckenridge, Airstream, Heartland, Redwood, CrossRoads, Dutchmen

Location: RV Hall of Fame

Days: Tuesday through Thursday

Highlights: More than 350 new models on 15+ acres. Food, beverages, live bands and a casino night Wednesday.

Forest River

@Normal:Featured brands: Coachmen, Dynamax, Palomino, Prime Time, Shasta

Location: 2745 Northland Drive, Elkhart (Northland and C.R. 6)

Days: Tuesday through Thursday

Highlights: Tuesday and Wednesday nights, live band and DJ; more than 600 RVs, even some boats, cargo trailers and buses.

Jayco

@Normal:Featured brands: Entegra Coach, Starcraft

Location: Starcraft at Ada Drive and C.R. 6, Entegra and Jayco at Middlebury headquarters

Days: Tuesday through Thursday

Highlights: New entry-level Class C Motor homes Redhawk line, new wide-body Starcraft AR-1

Gulf Stream Coach

@Normal:Location: C.R. 6 and Northland Drive and its Nappanee headquarters at 503 S. Oakland Ave.

Days: Monday through Thursday

Highlights: In addition to Monday festivities, Gulf Stream will display its new bath slide-out and new cubby door that allows people to store items each evening without having to take them all the way into the RV.

Winnebago Towables

@Normal:Location: 2707 Decio Drive (corner of C.R. 6 and C.R. 13)

Days: Tuesday through Thursday

Highlights: The company’s teasing “the rebirth of an icon” with a new product, joining the latest of its product lines. Winnebago is also offering product training for dealers on the motorized lines. They’re serving breakfast and lunch.

Open Range

@Normal:Location: 2800 Northland Drive, Elkhart

Days: Monday afternoon, Tuesday through Thursday

Highlights: A new line, new features and new floor plans

Navistar RV (formerly Monaco Coach)

@Normal:Location: The new plant at Nappanee Street and Hively Avenue in Elkhart

Days: Tuesday through Thursday

Highlights: Showing off the new plant and new Trail Lite and Holiday Rambler trailers

Newmar

@Normal:Location: C.R. 6 and Frederic Drive

Days: Tuesday through Friday

Highlights: Lunch Tuesday and Wednesday, the all-new 2013 Dutch Star will join a variety of Newmar products

Livin’ Lite, EverGreen and Cruiser RV

@Normal:Location: On Executive Parkway, entrance to RV/MH Hall of Fame

Days: Tuesday through Thursday

Highlights: New models and new lines

KZ RV

@Normal:Location: The corner of C.R. 6 and C.R. 15 and at its Shipshewana headquarters

Days: Monday through Thursday

Highlights: A new Sandalwood edition of the Durango product line and a StoneRidge redesign

Fleetwood RV

@Normal:Location: C.R. 6 and Frederic Drive

Days: Tuesday through Thursday

Highlights: New floor plans and design features, lunch for dealers