From all across the United States — and maybe even beyond — guests will flock to downtown Springfield Aug. 8-10 for the Birthplace of Route 66 Festival.
The free community event launched in 2010 as a block party, with a car show on College Street and live music in the Mother’s Brewing Company Backyard. The footprint for its 11th edition stretches from South Campbell Avenue through Park Central Square and all the way to the Route 66 Springfield Visitor Center on East St. Louis Street.
Along that footprint, guests will find live music, vendors, food and drink options, hundreds of classic cars and trucks and a lot more. Here’s what you can enjoy while you celebrate the Mother Road.
It all starts with a dance party
For the second year in a row, the Emerald City Band headlines the Rockin’ the Route Kickoff Concert. They’ll hit the Aaron Sachs Stage at Jefferson Avenue and McDaniel Street at 7 p.m. Aug. 8. The 13-piece band is based in Dallas.
Route 66 Festival organizers praised the band’s high-energy, interactive performances. The Emerald City Band’s set list covers 1960s Motown, 1970s disco, funk and R&B, 1980s jams and some more modern hits.
Admission to the Rockin’ the Route Kickoff Concert is free.
There will be classic cars and trucks everywhere
The Birthplace of Route 66 Festival hasn’t forgotten its roots as a car show. Hundreds of classic cars, trucks and motorcycles will be parked across downtown Springfield from the time the festival opens at noon Aug. 9 until things wrap up around 4 p.m. Aug. 10.
Most of the vehicles will be parked along the “Route 66 Motor Mile,” which includes Park Central West, Park Central East and East St. Louis Street. In previous years, cars have also been parked along South Avenue between Park Central Square and Walnut Street.
This year’s festival includes an appearance by classic planes
The Birthplace of Route 66 Festival takes to the skies in 2024 with an appearance by two Stearman Formation Pilots. The vintage World War II biplanes will fly over the festival footprint at 6:45 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8, to help kick off the event.
They’ll also do a fly-by at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 9, during the festival’s parade (more on that below). Pilot Rod Hightower told the City of Springfield that the planes usually do several passes above the route using a race-track pattern with defined entry and exit points.
Hightower bought his first Stearman in 1988, a project he called a basket case. Restoration began in 1990 and took him seven and a half years. The plane made its first flight in July of 1996.
“It has been a fabulous journey for our entire family,” Hightower told Smithsonian Magazine in 2012. “Some of our children have grown up around that airplane as it was being restored.”
His mission in doing flyovers at events is to encourage participation in aviation by inspiring people to fly, to build, to restore, to volunteer and to reach out to their community in support of aviation.
The Friday parade remains one of the festival’s biggest draws
Organizers say the 2024 Birthplace of Route 66 Festival Parade could be the best yet, with more than 500 classic cars, trucks and other surprises.
The parade starts at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 9, at the intersection of Grant and College. It travels east through Park Central Square, then heads down St. Louis Street to National Avenue. City of Springfield officials says the best viewing locations are at Park Central Square, near Motorcycle Village at St. Louis and Jefferson, or along College east of Grant and along St. Louis Street to National.
Pre-parade parties are scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at the Birthplace of Route 66 Roadside Park (1200 W. College) and at the Route 66 Car Museum (1684 W. College).
Live music provides the heartbeat for the weekend
The Birthplace of Route 66 Festival starts with a concert and continues with live music on three stages all weekend long. There are nearly 30 performances on the schedule.
Acts are planned for the Aaron Sachs stage, the Chevy Dealers of the Ozarks Entertainment Stage at Park Central Square and the Rotary Stage near the Springfield Expo Center. All three stages will have food and drink vendors set up nearby.
And that doesn’t include performances in the Great Route 66 Talent Search at 2 p.m. Aug. 10 inside the Shrine Mosque. The event is divided into two categories: professionals and amateurs. The winners of both categories will receive a “guaranteed front of the line pass” to attend a virtual open call audition in one of the official casting call locations for NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.”
Indoor events will help you keep from overheating
Need to cool off? Head over to the Springfield Expo Center for the Chevrolet Evolution Showcase, presented by the Chevy Dealers of the Ozarks. It’s a new addition for 2024.
Guests at the showcase will see the latest trends in automotive excellence, from high-performance automobiles to the newest cars, trucks and SUVs on the market. There will also be classics from the past, from local car clubs, staged alongside the new vehicles.
There are other indoor events on the schedule. The Old Glass Place is home to the Authors, Artists, Associations and Collectors Exhibition. There you can find creative displays of memorabilia, information about products and services and items for sale. It’s open from noon-4 p.m. Aug. 9 and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Aug. 10. Inside the Shrine Mosque is the Women’s World Expo, with more than 40 vendors.
Jeff Kessinger
Jeff Kessinger is the Reader Engagement Editor for the Springfield Daily Citizen, and the voice of its daily newsletter SGF A.M. He covered sports in southwest Missouri for the better part of 20 years, from young athletes to the pros. The Springfield native and Missouri State University alumnus is thrilled to be doing journalism in the Queen City, helping connect the community with important information. He and wife Jamie daily try to keep a tent on the circus that is a blended family of five kids and three cats. More by Jeff Kessinger
