PHOTO BY RALPH DUKE
A M A R I L LO | S T Y L E S H E E
P R I M A RY LO G O
S EC O N DA RY LO G O
PHOTO BY JERED LOPEZ
PHOTOS COURTESY OF AMARILLO CVB
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To The Future
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While this year’s festival is focused on the present, the efforts going into it are a bet on the future. “We’re taking the bull by the horns,” says Lee. “We want to be ahead of all the other states. We’ve got lots of activities and little Easter eggs for people to find during the festival. We are setting the standard for all the other states, and they will be looking to us in the future.” It’s a glimmer of the same optimism that caused early motorists to head west on 66. “With us getting ahead of the curve, we’re coming out stronger than any other state, and faster. Nobody has come out of the gate with partnerships like we have, and all of the counties are coming together,” says Smith. “Once we finish this first festival, we hope to be the most popular spot by 2026.” The value of this forward thinking is not lost on shopkeepers like Jill Zimmer, who owns two businesses on Southwest Sixth, known colloquially in Amarillo as Sixth Street. “We have a great tourism opportunity with the festival, and I think it will increase our traffic here immensely,” she says. “This mile-long stretch will be humming with tourists wanting to come down to see what Sixth Street is all about.” Zimmer, who has owned her businesses for 15 years, swells with hometown pride. “It’s amazing how many tourists come down here, from all over the world. They want to see route 66. I love being down on Sixth Street.” In fact, her portion of Route 66—that magical mile between Georgia and Western—is often the face of the Mother Road in these parts. While Route 66 spans about 42 miles across the entirety of Potter County, including Amarillo, it is this one mile that is perhaps best known. “This stretch is just so much fun. There are such unique shops and places to eat or have a drink. This is just my area,” she beams. “Our two most famous tourist attractions got their start on Route 66, with the Big Texan, originally on Amarillo Boulevard east, and the Cadillac Ranch, west of Amarillo, with the mystique of a fun place to
visit,” adds Ware. “Europeans are especially fascinated with the Wild West, and Amarillo is a destination for many to dream of vacationing in the west.” Those international tourists, Lee notes, are often very knowledgeable. “The Europeans often know more than we do about Route 66,” he says. Ware continues in a broader tone. “Celebrating 100 years of Route 66 has really caught on, especially in the Texas Panhandle. Towns along the way each have some historic spot to celebrate, and Amarillo plans on being the party capital for the center of Route 66.” To that end, Smith understands the role this all plays in counting heads in beds. “Our office has now taken the mentality that we are a destination, and we will market ourselves that way,” she says of the CVB. “With Route 66, we better cultivate it and do it well.” It’s a point well taken, because other states will be vying for the same clientele. “We don’t want to be lost in the mix. When people see a Route 66 festival sign, we want them to think of Texas first.” Ware responds, “You can see this as a three-year party that will enlarge Route 66’s image in everyone’s mind, while we all have a good time celebrating our history.” It’s a party, but it’s also marketing, Smith says. “It is important that we grow our mindset about Route 66, that it is about the city and not so much the pavement. The branding is for the whole town. We are a Route 66 town,” she says. That gives the inaugural 2023 festival a heavy future-forward mindset. “Let’s have fun with the history, and remember what brought it. And then that traveler will hopefully be here in future years, but it will all feel different by 2026. That is the goal,” Smith explains. If Amarillo residents find themselves humming Troup’s whimsical tune, itself penned while on a road trip down 66 some 80 years ago, don’t be surprised if they stop when they get to the chorus. “You’ll see Amarillo!” And that is precisely what this festival is all about.
TEXAS ROUTE 66 FESTIVAL
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