The 2nd annual Birthplace of Route 66 Festival & Car Show is set for 10am to 5pm on Saturday, August 11 on Park Central square in downtown Springfield, Missouri.
The festival is free and open to the public.
The event will feature a car show, food vendors, a kids’ area and more. Live entertainment will be Queen City Cats and Blue Plate Special at 10am, The Detectives at 1pm and The Road Crew at 3pm. The Road Crew is winner of the first ever “Bobby Troup Artistic Recognition Award” from the International Route 66 Association in 2011. They wrote a song especially for this festival.
Car show registration is $15 in advance or $20 the day of the event. Prizes will be awarded for the car show in a variety of categories. Spectators will vote on their favorites. Car show registration is 7-9:30 a.m. and awards are presented at 3pm, along with The John T. Woodruff Award. The Woodruff award is named for the prominent Springfieldian who served as a Chamber of Commerce president and was the first president of the National Route 66 Association. It recognizes an outstanding individual who has helped promote the historic highway.
Officially recognized as the birthplace of Route 66, it was in Springfield on April 30, 1926, that officials first proposed the name of the new Chicago-to-Los Angeles highway. In 1938, Route 66 became the first completely paved transcontinental highway in America – the “Mother Road” – stretching from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Coast.
Traces of the Mother Road are still visible in Springfield along the Route 66 By-Pass, Kearney Street, Glenstone Avenue, College and St. Louis streets and on Missouri 266 to Halltown.
For festival information, visit www.facebook.com/BirthplaceofRoute66Festival. For more information about Springfield, visit www.SpringfieldAdventures.com or call the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau at 800-678-8767 to receive a free visitor guide, coupons and information packet.
For more information about top events in Missouri take a look at the Top Events USA selection of the annual main festivals and events in Missouri