Ever since the demise of Lincolnfest, the moaning and groaning for a downtown
street festival has echoed from Southern View to Sherman, Clearlake to Curran–and
all points in between. Well, cry no more, Springfieldites, here’s the second
coming of the International Route 66 Mother Road Festival, September
26 through the 28.
Brought to you by the good folks who put on the Decatur Celebration, you can rest assured that the good times will be oozing from the sidewalks. There will be a car show, a parade, live music on five stages, plus street performers roving around downtown. There’s also the World’s Greatest Sock Hop. You can participate in Route 66 workshops hosted by historian and author Michael Wallis and actor Martin Milner, best known for his part in the Route 66 TV show (he also played the mature cop in Adam-12). Check out the “Travel Illinois Expo,” showcasing the many little towns and roadside attractions around these parts that call the Mother Road home, and an “Author and Artists Expo” represents the burgeoning industry surrounding the promotion and preservation of 66. Festival promoters claim 35,000 people from 35 states and 8 countries attended last year’s debut event, along with more than 650 classic cars cruising around town.
The Illinois Route 66 Association has added Homeric dimensions to this year’s
edition, with historical cruises on Friday the 26th. “Searching for the Lost
66 Road” leads cruisers up from St. Louis and down from Joliet (on as much of
66 that remains, after the paving of I-55) to the Mother Road Festival. Truly,
all roads will lead to Springfield that day. But seriously, folks: On Friday
night at the Hilton, the National Historic Route 66 Federation, in cooperation
with the John Steinbeck Foundation, will present the second John Steinbeck Award
to that special someone deemed to have contributed most significantly to the
preservation of the Mother Road. Tickets for the dinner and ceremony can be
secured by calling 888-339-0794. The festival runs from 6 to 11 p.m. on Friday,
11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 3 p. m. on Sunday. For more information
or for tickets to the sock hop, call 800-545-7300 or 789-2360. You can also
visit www.routefest66.com.
This article appears in Sep 4-10, 2003.
