Downtown Kirkwood, Mo., will be bustling Saturday, June 20, with the first-ever Route 66 Festival along with the start of the annual Hemmings Motor News Great Race.
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Kirk Hutchison, chair for the Kirkwood Route 66 Festival, said a few years ago, The Great Race came into Kirkwood and participants had a night’s stay in the city and fell in love with the community.
“Race organizers said it was the best overnight stay during the tour that year,” he said. “I talked to organizers and also the Kirkwood Chamber and Kirkwood Downtown Business District and persuaded them to start the race here. The Kirkwood Route 66 Festival is also a big thing and we are looking to do that on an annual basis.”
Hutchison said Downtown Kirkwood is a great area and part of it is how well the businesses in the community work and cooperate together, Hutchison said.
“One of the main reasons I wanted to get The Great Race here to bring a lot of people into Kirkwood and make our business community even stronger,” Hutchison said.
The family-friendly Route 66 Festival will feature the start of the annual Great Race, a vintage-car rally and race that in 2015 starts in Kirkwood and ends, eight days later, in Santa Monica, California. The 2,400-mile route travels along the original “Mother Road” sections of historic Route 66. In conjunction with the race, the City of Kirkwood will launch a new festival, the Kirkwood Route 66 Festival, with tentative plans to hold the new festival each year.
Family activities tentatively include: Performances by Disney characters, a bounce house, face painting, live music, and hands-on activities offered by The Magic House, Kirkwood Public Library, A Hero’s Impact Foundation and Once Upon an Occasion. All downtown Kirkwood restaurants will be open during the event. Updates and announcements about the Festival will be posted on the City’s Website at www.Kirkwoodmo.org and on the Festival’s Facebook page at: www.Facebook.com/KirkwoodMORoute66Festival.
A ride in the historic Batmobile, owned by MotoExotica, will be raffled off that day. The winner wins a ride in the Batmobile. Tickets can be purchased in advance at Kirkwood City Hall and the Downtown Kirkwood offices at 130 E. Jefferson during normal business hours. Tickets can also be purchased on the day of the event at the Information Booth or from roaming ticket sellers. The drawing will be held at 10:00 a.m.
The Great Race, now in its 33rd year, is a time, speed, and distance rally. Each vehicle holds a driver and navigator who are given precise instructions for each day of the trip. They are scored at secret checkpoints along the way and penalized for each second late or early. As with golf, the lowest score wins. In addition to following the instructions and staying on time, each vintage car faces the challenge of getting an old car across the finish line.
In 2014, Barry and Irene Jason of Keller, Texas, won the $50,000 prize, with their 1966 Mustang. Cars built in 1972 and earlier are eligible to enter. For 2015, 120 cars have entered the race, including eight cars from Japan that have never been seen in this country before. For full details and additional history on the Great Race, please visit their Website at www.greatrace.com
This family-friendly event will feature the start of the annual Great Race, a vintage-car rally and race that in 2015 starts in Kirkwood and ends, eight days later, in Santa Monica, California. The 2,400-mile route travels along the original “Mother Road” sections of historic Route 66. In conjunction with the race, the City of Kirkwood will launch a new festival, the Kirkwood Route 66 Festival, with tentative plans to hold the new festival each year.
