Springfield came within an eyelash of losing its Route 66 Mother Road Festival

The International Route 66 Mother Road Festival in Springfield, Illinois, will return in September for its 20th edition after a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the event landing a new manager

Reporting by the Springfield State Journal-Register indicates the city came close to losing the festival entirely after it had become a mainstay in downtown for nearly two decades.

Florida-based Bonnier Events, which had managed the festival, decided earlier this year to step away after the event was put on hold in 2020 due to the pandemic. A spokesman for the company said it wanted to recalibrate on “where best to apply our focus for this year. With the uncertainty of COVID-19, focusing 100% of our efforts on our core events and ensuring they got full attention was critical for us.”

Shane “Shaner” McDermith still was going to manage festival operations.

That’s when officials approached Greg Cooper about running the Route 66 festival.

Cooper almost immediately said “yes” to the project despite the fact that he manages the Powerlight car show at Knight’s Action Park Aug. 6-7 and will oversee the Powerlight Fest at the Illinois State Fair Aug. 22. The free show at the Lincoln Stage has annually attracted some of the biggest names in contemporary Christian music.
“The bottom line is I love doing this, and I was honored to be asked,” said Cooper, a retired 911 dispatcher for Sangamon County Central Dispatch. “One of the most critical things was that Springfield can’t lose this show. I don’t know what would have been done if Shaner had not stayed, and I didn’t come on board. I honestly believe the show would be gone altogether. I didn’t want the city to lose this in any way, shape, or form.
“Especially with the (Route 66) centennial coming up (in 2026), for this show not to be in Springfield, would be absolutely (tragic). It only makes sense for this show to be here. We’re on Route 66, with the history of Abraham Lincoln. This is the best place to have it.”

Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder also told the newspaper there was “always concern the festival could go away” if a new manager hadn’t been landed quickly. He also said it “could have been catastrophic” if the festival had been put on hold for two years.

An area resident also told me Greg and Sue Cooper are well-known and respected in the car-enthusiast community and that landing them to lead the festival should be “a win-win deal for everyone.”

This year’s festival will be on Sept. 24-26. It typically draws 60,000 to 80,000 people over its three days, and it remains Springfield’s most popular event except for the long-running Illinois State Fair.

(Image from the International Route 66 Mother Road Festival in Springfield, Illinois, by Randy von Liski via Flickr)