Thoughts about the Route 66 Festival

When David and Mary Lou Knudson of the National Historic Route 66 Federation announced they were stepping away from festival-organizing in late 2005 because of health concerns, it was a given that the 2006 festival in Albuquerque would be a transition year because many inexperienced people would be running the show.

Now that the festival is over, we can proclaim that the first Will Rogers Awards Evening was a success, with memorable moments and deserving homages to people who make the Mother Road great. The Route 66 Summit also was productive and interesting session for many of the road’s movers and shakers.

However, the car show on the Hotel Albuquerque grounds was reportedly a disappointment, vendors in the artists and authors exhibition hall reported mostly poor sales, and general attendance by non-roadies appeared sparse. Considering the 80th anniversary of the road and the Disney-Pixar “Cars” movie generating huge amounts of publicity for the road, the festival should have done better. The cause of these problems were behind the scenes — beyond the control of Jim Conkle and Helen Baker, who each did a yeoman’s job keeping the festival on the tracks despite the numerous difficulties.

Now that many of the problems have been identified, the 2007 festival in Clinton, Okla., promises to be a terrific event. Clinton’s enthusiasm also has made me very optimistic.

I personally think it was time to take the festival back to smaller towns, where the spirit of Route 66 burns brighter and grass-roots support is greater. Holding the festival in big cities sounds good in theory. But larger cities also offer many more entertainment options, so the Route 66 festival tended to get lost in the shuffle. In smaller towns, where entertainment options are sparse, festivals tend to perform better.

It’s also my belief that the authors and artists need to be given the option of setting up their booths outdoors. Years ago, I was a volunteer for a hugely successful small-town festival in Illinois where vendors would make literally thousands of dollars on one weekend. The key was that these vendors were outdoors in high-foot-traffic areas. There were a couple of buildings where vendors could set up indoors, but sales there were much poorer.

At this Illinois festival, the only thing that suppressed sales was rain. Hot weather, cloudy weather, cool weather didn’t make much of a difference — just as long as the rain stayed away.

I think setting up booths in a concentrated, high-traffic pedestrian area would be ideal for the authors and artists. Yes, it may be a bit more expensive and a hassle for the city to set up tents and electrical hookups. But I’m firmly convinced the payoff would be so much greater.

Just a thought.

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