TULSA, Okla. — Route 66 Road Fest wrapped up on June 23.
It’s a vintage car show, a history exhibit, and much more. But ultimately, it’s a festival celebrating Route 66.
Organizers told 2 News it’s been quite a successful year at Road Fest.
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Wade Bray said Saturday, "for example, we probably had as many people here as we had all of last year, and we did three days last year.”
In fact, he told us this was the best Road Fest they’ve ever had.
People of all ages browsed vintage cars and toured exhibits, taking a trip down memory lane through the Mother Road’s history.
As for what kind of economic impact this had on the area, Bray, the event's curator, replied, "It's hard to put numbers on that, but we know that we have visitors from not only all over the country but all over the world."
"I have personally talked to people here from Japan, from Germany, one from Scotland," he added. "So, we know that we are getting people from all over.”
At an RV park, there were people from Texas and even California.
“We’re showing off our Lighthouse duplex behind us," said Ethan Langley. "1951 model, the first production two-story trailer ever in existence.”
Inside the double-decker was a blast to the past, a time capsule of life during the 1950s.
He said that, on Saturday, they had over 1,688 people tour the camper.
“We've probably seen double the activity in one day that we had the entire show in [Los Angeles],” Langley, the owner of American RV Restoration, noted.
All this was in the pursuit of showcasing history and life as it used to be.
Boyce Wilson from Texas found a red RV littered with raccoons. He spent two years restoring it to its former glory.
“A lot of people looked through the trailer and really enjoyed it," he said. "It makes you feel good when you’ve done something and preserved the history a little bit for people to see and stuff.”
While Road Fest 2024 is now over, the centennial in 2026 is on everybody’s minds.
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