Route 66 turns 100 on Wednesday, November 11, 2026. That is the official birthday, and the two biggest parties on the day are in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the state's centennial celebration fills the Tulsa Arts District from breakfast to a sold-out concert, and in Springfield, Illinois, where the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway closes its statewide conference with a Starship concert. Around those two dates, seven of the eight Route 66 states still have festivals, film nights and car shows on the books through December.
There is no single national calendar that puts it all in one place. The federal commission certifies events and a partner site lists them and the states and towns run their own pages. So I pulled it together. Every event below has a date I confirmed with an official source, and a link so you can check it again before you drive.
When is the Route 66 centennial?
The centennial date is November 11, 2026, exactly 100 years after November 11, 1926. On that day the American Association of State Highway Officials and the Bureau of Public Roads adopted the uniform numbering system and the map for the new U.S. highways. Route 66 was on it, running from Chicago to Los Angeles.
The number itself came from a fight. Highway planners first gave the Chicago to California road the number 60, and then Kentucky's governor objected and claimed 60 for a road of his own. The Chicago route was offered 62, which nobody behind it wanted.
On April 30, 1926, three men met at the Colonial Hotel in Springfield, Missouri: Cyrus Avery, chairman of the Oklahoma Highway Commission and a Tulsan; Missouri's state highway engineer; and Springfield businessman John T. Woodruff. From the hotel's telegraph office they wired Washington that they preferred 66. That telegram is why Springfield calls itself the Birthplace of Route 66, and Avery's role is why Tulsa calls him the Father of Route 66 and itself the Capital of Route 66.
The celebration has federal backing too. Congress created the Route 66 Centennial Commission in December 2020 to plan how the country would mark the anniversary, and the commission certifies official centennial activities along the whole road.
November 11, 2026: where the 100th birthday party is
Tulsa, Oklahoma: the statewide Route 66 Centennial Celebration
Oklahoma's Route 66 Centennial Commission and Cherokee Nation Businesses are putting on a full day downtown, 100 years to the day. It folds in Tulsa's long-running Veterans Day Parade, so the morning belongs to veterans and the afternoon to the road. Most of it is free.
- 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. Veterans Day Breakfast at VFW Post 577, 1109 E 6th St. Free, open to all.
- 11:00 a.m. Tulsa Veterans Day Parade, downtown. Free.
- 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Centennial Crawl through eight downtown museums, galleries and history stops, with free admission at each one.
- 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Street party on Main Street between OKPOP and Cain's Ballroom, with live music. Free wristbands are handed out through the day.
- 5:00 p.m. The Centennial Moment on Main Street, the official 100th birthday recognition.
- 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. VIP party at OKPOP, the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture, $66 a ticket.
- 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Bob Wills' Texas Playboys, free, at Guthrie Green.
- 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Tulsa band Wilderado at Cain's Ballroom. Already sold out.
The Oklahoma Historical Society is also screening its new documentary, Crossroads of America: Oklahoma's Route 66, for free in the Tulsa Arts District that day. My advice if you are going: park once, walk everything, and book your room now. A parade morning plus a statewide party in one downtown means the close-in hotels will go first. My notes on the best Route 66 motels include the Oklahoma stretch.
Springfield, Illinois: conference by day, Starship by night
The Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway holds its statewide conference on November 11 at Route 66 Motorheads Bar-Grill-Museum, 600 Toronto Road. Conference tickets are $75 for members and $125 for everyone else. Non-members are welcome.
The evening is the part most travelers will want. From 6 p.m., food and the Route 66 Centennial Celebration concert with Starship featuring Mickey Thomas fill the Motordome. General admission is $150 per person.
What about Springfield, Missouri?
Springfield had its party in the spring. It was chosen as host city for the national kickoff, held April 30 to May 2, with the opening concert on April 30, the anniversary of the telegram. When I checked the official calendar in early October, there was no November 11 event posted for Springfield, Missouri. If you want a Missouri date this fall, look at Lebanon in the state list below.
Route 66 centennial events calendar: October to December 2026
This is the full list for the rest of the year, in date order. I left out anything I could not confirm with the organizer or the official centennial calendar. Dates do move, so click through before you book.
| Date | Event | City | State | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 8-11 | Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference | Springfield | IL | Organizer |
| Oct. 9-10 | Main Street USA Centennial Festival | Barstow | CA | Barstow Chamber |
| Oct. 13 | National Route 66 Centennial Speaker Series | Online | All | Research Route 66 |
| Oct. 16-17 | Kingman Route 66 Fest | Kingman | AZ | Organizer |
| Oct. 17 | Round Barn Round-Up | Arcadia | OK | Centennial calendar |
| Oct. 17 | Route 66 West Fest | Albuquerque | NM | Organizer |
| Oct. 24 | Depew Route 66 Fall Festival and Car Show | Depew | OK | Centennial calendar |
| Oct. 24 | Lebanon Route 66 Trunk or Treat Cruise In | Lebanon | MO | Centennial calendar |
| Nov. 7 | Chrome & Neon at 100 | Albuquerque | NM | Centennial calendar |
| Nov. 7 | Community Fall Festival: Celebrate Rt 66 | Needles | CA | Centennial calendar |
| Nov. 10 | National Route 66 Centennial Speaker Series | Online | All | Centennial calendar |
| Nov. 11 | Route 66 Centennial Celebration | Tulsa | OK | Oklahoma commission |
| Nov. 11 | Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway Conference and Centennial Concert | Springfield | IL | Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway |
| Nov. 12 | Telling the Missouri Route 66 Story: Centennial Conclusion | Online | MO | State Historical Society of Missouri |
| Nov. 20-22 | Route 66 Film Festival | Springfield | IL | Organizer |
| Nov. 21 | Great Los Angeles Walk, Echo Park to the Santa Monica Pier | Los Angeles | CA | NBC Los Angeles |
| Nov. 21 to Jan. 1 | Yukon's Christmas in the Park | Yukon | OK | City of Yukon |
| Nov. 28 | Route 66 Race Across Kansas | Across Kansas | KS | Centennial calendar |
| Dec. 8 | National Route 66 Centennial Speaker Series | Online | All | Centennial calendar |
Route 66 centennial celebration schedule, state by state
Here is what each event is actually like. I drove all 2,448 miles for the Route 66 Field Manual, and these notes follow the road west, the way I drove it.
Illinois
Springfield is the Illinois hub this fall. The Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference runs October 8 to 11, with talks, panels and workshops for historians, preservation people and plain road fans, and packages start at $100. Then comes November 11 at Motorheads, and on November 20 to 22 the Route 66 Film Festival takes over the Hoogland Center for the Arts at 420 S. 6th Street, with a $10 suggested donation per session.
Missouri
Lebanon carries Missouri this fall. The Lebanon Route 66 Trunk or Treat Cruise In is October 24 at the Laclede County Fairgrounds, gates at 5 p.m., with decorated classic cars, free hot dogs and hot chocolate, and no registration needed. On November 10, the Lebanon Laclede County Library and Route 66 Museum hosts a local session of the Route 66 Centennial Speaker Series.
Online, the State Historical Society of Missouri closes its monthly online series with Telling the Missouri Route 66 Story: Centennial Conclusion on November 12. It is free.
Kansas
The only Kansas date on the official calendar for the rest of the year is the Route 66 Race Across Kansas on November 28: a half marathon with fun runs and walkers welcome, moving east to west past Route 66 landmarks and small towns. It is free, but you have to register ahead.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma has the most going on. On October 17 the Oklahoma Route 66 Association brings a music and arts festival and the Otto Funk Fiddle Contest to the Arcadia Round Barn, free. On October 24, Depew holds its Route 66 Fall Festival and Car Show from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., right on original 1926 Route 66 concrete. Admission is free, and it costs $25 to show a car.
Then comes Tulsa on November 11. After that, Yukon's Christmas in the Park lights up from November 21 through New Year's Day, 6 to 11 p.m. nightly, with nearly three miles of displays you can drive or walk. Admission is free, with donations welcome.
Texas
Texas had its big moments earlier. The Texas Route 66 Festival ran June 4 to 13, and the Old Route 66 Association of Texas held its fifth Motor Tour from Shamrock to Glenrio on October 1 to 3. I found nothing else on the official calendar for Texas this year. The Midpoint Cafe in Adrian marks the halfway point at mile 1,139, and Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo will be there whatever the calendar says.
New Mexico
Route 66 West Fest is Saturday, October 17, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Route 66 Visitor Center on Nine Mile Hill on Albuquerque's west side. It is free, with live music, a car show and food trucks, plus free shuttles from three community centers. Organizers ask you to bring non-perishable food for the Rio Grande Food Program.
The New Mexico event I would drive for is Chrome & Neon at 100 on Saturday, November 7. It starts at Enchanted Trails with cars, music and birthday cake, then moves to the Hubcap Tree, a Route 66 time capsule burial, a neon lighting ceremony, the new Neon Park, and a neon cruise down Central Avenue. Admission is free.
Arizona
Kingman is Arizona's fall stop. The Kingman Route 66 Fest is October 16 and 17 at Lewis Kingman Park, at Andy Devine Avenue (Route 66) and Fairgrounds Avenue. Spectators get in free, with live music, a classic car show, vintage trailers and food vendors, and parking is free in the lot next door.
California
Barstow's Main Street USA Centennial Festival is October 9 and 10 downtown, with the National Miss Route 66 Pageant on Friday and a car show, live music and vendors on Saturday. Admission is free. Needles holds a Community Fall Festival to celebrate Route 66 on November 7, also free.
Then on Saturday, November 21, the Great Los Angeles Walk follows Santa Monica Boulevard all the way to the ocean in honor of the centennial. Walkers meet at 9 a.m. at the Lady of the Lake statue in Echo Park and finish at the Santa Monica Pier, home of the End of the Trail sign. It is free, and the organizer is clear that it is not a race.
Online, from anywhere
The National Route 66 Centennial Speaker Series is a free monthly webinar on the second Tuesday: October 13, November 10 and December 8, at 11 a.m. Pacific, 2 p.m. Eastern. Research Route 66 runs it with National Park Service support, and past sessions go up on YouTube.
Already happened this year
- April 30 to May 2: the national centennial kickoff in Springfield, Missouri, with the opening concert on the telegram's anniversary.
- May 30: Tulsa's Route 66 Capital Cruise.
- June 4 to 13: the Texas Route 66 Festival across the Panhandle, with a free finale in Amarillo on June 13.
- June 6: the Route 66 Pier to Pier Celebration, linking the Santa Monica Pier and Chicago's Navy Pier.
- October 1 to 3: the Texas Route 66 Motor Tour, Shamrock to Glenrio.
How to plan a drive around the centennial events
Pick one anchor date and build out from it. If you can make only one, make it November 11 in Tulsa: it is free, it is walkable, and it falls on the birthday itself. Chrome & Neon in Albuquerque is the Saturday before, and the Great Los Angeles Walk ten days after, so a couple with two or three weeks could catch all three heading west.
Don't try to drive the whole road just to hit events. The festivals are one-day affairs and the road is 2,448 miles; the best days out there are usually the ones between the dates. My Route 66 road trip planner walks through how many days each state really needs, and if you are going this fall, read Route 66 in the fall for what changes once the summer crowds leave. Some stretches have been swallowed by the interstate, and Route 66 vs. I-40 shows where the old road still runs.
Small-town events lean on volunteers, and plans change. Call ahead or check the organizer's page the week you go.
The Centennial Edition of the Field Manual was printed for this anniversary, and it is built for the drive between events. It has one chapter per state, 105 GPS waypoints and 169 maps, plus nine hotels and nine restaurants per state across three price levels. Places I found closed are marked closed, like the Cuervo Cafe in Santa Rosa, and anywhere with uncertain hours carries a "verify operating status before travel" flag. My rule was simple: "If we couldn't verify it, we left it out."
One last thing before you go
A hundred years ago, the road started as a telegram from Springfield and a line on a map. This November, the birthday is a parade, a fiddle contest, a neon cruise and a long walk to the Pacific. Pick your date, book your room, and if you're shopping for the road fan in your life this season, my Route 66 gift ideas are a good place to start. I'll see you out there.
