FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.—Flagstaff is ready to welcome visitors and locals alike for the city’s official Route 66 Centennial celebration, to be held on June 6.
Ahead of the centennial, Discover Flagstaff has been promoting Flagstaff as “the only 7,000-foot elevation, pine-fresh, Dark Sky city on The Mother Road.”
Discover Flagstaff’s Route 66 Centennial celebration festivities on June 6 will incorporate 3D illusionary street art, music, dancing, classic cars, and other family-friendly elements. The illusionary street art promises to be a showstopper, with artists commissioned to create images that will give the impression the street has come to life.
The free event will coincide with the annual Hullabaloo festival at Wheeler Park, making for a lively, family-friendly day of celebration.
Aspen Avenue, between Leroux and San Francisco Streets, will be closed from the afternoon of Friday, June 5, through Saturday evening, June 6, allowing visitors to enjoy the downtown area on foot. Additional special events will take place near Gateway Plaza, along the patio and walking areas between Rainbow’s End and Flagstaff Brewing Co.
Mountain Line is offering free bus service on all routes for the Route 66 Centennial celebration on June 6. The Route 66 bus will depart the Downtown Connection Center every hour (at a quarter after) and will offer a tour of the sites along Route 66 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
The city also recently launched a new digital passport, providing locals and visitors with an opportunity to “check in” at Route 66 landmarks to earn points redeemable for prizes at the Flagstaff Visitor Center, located at 1 E. Route 66.
Discover Flagstaff also offers the “Walk this Talk” Route 66 self-guided tour, which begins at the Visitor Center and guides visitors through 10 historic sites within about a half mile of the starting point.
Several local attractions also have Route 66-themed specials for the Route 66 Centennial. The Museum of Northern Arizona opened the exhibition “Wagon Road to Mother Road,” focusing on how Route 66 changed the region. Archeologist David Purcell conducted a dig in Petrified Forest National Park, and the exhibition details the car crashes, camp sites, and other activities along Route 66 in its early days. Lowell Observatory has a new tour called “Cosmic Highways: A Centennial Tour,” which features Percival Lowell’s historic 1911 Stevens-Duryea car that he drove around Flagstaff. The tour follows astronomical discoveries along Route 66 in Arizona. The tour runs daily at 3 p.m., and tickets allow readmission for guests who wish to return in the evening for stargazing and telescope viewing. Theatrikos Theatre Co. in Flagstaff is presenting a new performance called “Route 66 to the Grand Canyon.” The performance, which runs through Nov. 11, uses a comedy plot to explore the lore of Route 66.
In addition, Flagstaff-based tour company Freaky Foot Tours is offering a new, two-hour walking tour of the Southside neighborhood. This tour explores both the 1926 and 1934 alignments of Route 66 and shares the story of how Flagstaff leaders helped bring the highway to Flagstaff, rather than through southern Arizona.
