Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor festival

A big weekend for Route 66 towns

Published by admin on Tue, 04/28/2026 - 3:42pm

With the Route 66 Centennial drawing national and international attention, communities along the Red Carpet Corridor are preparing for one of the busiest tourism weekends in recent memory.
From Joliet to Bloomington-Normal, towns are organizing vendor markets, entertainment, historic displays, and family-friendly activities designed to welcome travelers celebrating the Mother Road’s 100th birthday.
The festival began in 2007, and was created to promote tourism and economic development in the roughly 100-mile stretch between Joliet and Bloomington-Normal.

Centennial hype hits Route 66

Published by admin on Tue, 04/28/2026 - 3:35pm

As Route 66 prepares to celebrate its 100th anniversary, longtime Wilmington historian John Weiss is already seeing the results of years of planning.
Weiss, widely known throughout the region for his decades of work promoting the Mother Road, said the buildup to the centennial has brought travelers earlier than usual — and from far beyond the United States.