International Camporee 2029

Close your eyes and picture an entire city made of tents, raised in just a few days in the middle of the American prairies. Flags from dozens of countries, a stage the size of an international concert, and tens of thousands of Pathfinders speaking different languages yet living out the same ideals. That city already has a name, a theme, and a date to be born: Gillette, Stand Strong, August 2029.

🌍What is the International Pathfinder Camporee?

First, the basics. Pathfinders is the Seventh-day Adventist Church club for boys and girls ages 10 to 15. And a camporee is a giant campout that brings several clubs together at once, with activities, ceremonies, and plenty of outdoor life. If you're new to this world, start with our guide on what a camporee is.

The International Camporee (officially the International Pathfinder Camporee) is the ultimate version of all this: a kind of Pathfinder World Cup. It happens every five years, always in the United States, and draws clubs from all over the planet — in the 2019 edition, there were Pathfinders from 105 countries in the same campground.

It's organized by the Center for Youth Evangelism, a youth ministry connected to the Adventist Church in the United States. The event is so important that the Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists (ESDA) keeps an entry dedicated solely to it.

📅When and where will the 2029 Camporee be?

The date is already set: August 6-12, 2029. The venue will be the Cam-plex, a huge event center in Gillette, a city in the state of Wyoming, in the western United States.

If you've never heard of Gillette, that's fine: it's a small city surrounded by prairies. During the camporee, it transforms. With around 50,000 visitors expected, the campground becomes, for one week, a city with more people than many entire Brazilian municipalities — with food service, health care, and programming running day and night.

This will be the second time Gillette serves as host. The first was in 2024, at the Believe the Promise camporee, which brought together more than 58,000 campers — the largest crowd in the event's history — after two decades of editions in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

🔥What is the theme of the 2029 Camporee?

The 2029 theme is Stand Strong. It was announced back in 2024, at the time of the Believe the Promise camporee, and is inspired by the story of Elijah, one of the most remarkable prophets in the Bible.

Elijah lived at a time when nearly the entire nation of Israel had traded God for idols. Even so, he did not bend: he single-handedly challenged 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and watched fire fall from heaven (the story is in 1 Kings 18). It's the portrait of someone who stood strong when following the crowd would have been far easier — a direct message for any teenager today.

Following the pattern of recent editions, the theme's story comes to life on the main stage, night after night, like a blockbuster production. The official site sums up the 2029 invitation in one sentence:

Discover what it means to stand strong in your faith.Official Camporee 2029 site

📊How many people attend? The story in numbers

The first camporee of this size took place in 1985, at Camp Hale, Colorado, with 16,129 Pathfinders. Since then, the event has passed through Pennsylvania and Colorado, enjoyed a golden era in Oshkosh (1999 to 2019), and, in 2024, moved to Gillette.

The numbers tell this growth story better than any text:

And where does Brazil fit into this story? There, the camporees organized by the church in South America also draw gigantic crowds — it's a different league, with the same passion. What sets the American event apart is its reach: no other camporee brings together so many countries on the same field.

Editions of the International Pathfinder Camporee (1985-2029). Source: Center for Youth Evangelism, 2026.

🎒What happens during camporee week?

Think of a mix of campout, festival, and world gathering. Recent editions have had it all: activities to earn honors, sports, exhibits, flag parades, and, at night, the main program on the giant stage, with the theme's story acted out chapter by chapter. Faith shows up in a real way too: in 2024, more than 1,100 people were baptized during the event.

And then there's the fever Brazilians know well: pin trading. In the United States it's taken just as seriously as back home — clubs, regions, and countries release exclusive pins, and the campground turns into an open-air trading market.

For many people, though, the best part isn't the schedule: it's making friends from other continents, discovering that the scarf around your neck means the same thing in any language, and going home with a much bigger view of the world.

🇧🇷How does a Brazilian club take part?

The official entry point is the International Guest Tickets — tickets for guests from outside the United States, sold on the camporee.org site. As of July 2026, they were already available; volunteer tickets had not yet opened.

In practice, almost no one travels on their own. The most common path is the delegation: a group organized by the church in your region that handles the travel package, lodging, and adult supervision. Keep an eye on announcements from your Association (the regional structure that coordinates the clubs) and talk with your club's leadership. As of July 2026, there was no public information about Brazilian delegations for 2029 — those details usually come out closer to the event.

The family budget matters too. The event is in August 2029: starting to save in 2026 spreads the cost over more than 30 months, much lighter than deciding everything at the last minute. Documents require patience: a valid passport and a US tourist visa, whose appointment can take months to schedule, plus specific authorization for minors traveling without their parents. And the training starts at home: see how to prepare for a camporee.

🛡️Is it safe to send my child to the USA with the club?

An event with tens of thousands of teenagers worries any parent or guardian — and rightly so. The good news: the organization has already proven it takes safety seriously. In 2024, facing a forecast of severe storms, the leadership decided to end the main program a day early. Losing the last night hurt, but the message was clear: no show is worth more than the Pathfinders' safety.

What's more, no Pathfinder travels alone: everyone stays under the responsibility of their own club's or delegation's adult leadership, with round-the-clock supervision. Minimum age requirements, the number of adults per group, and documentation vary from club to club and region to region — ask how it works in yours.