AAA Road Fest: A Roadside Attraction
BY RICHARD STEPHENS, JR. AND RHYS MARTIN
AAA’s Road Fest, perhaps the Mother of all Road Celebrations, paid homage to 97 years of Route 66’s existence, towns it passes thorough, and vehicles that drive on it. It was held at the SageNet Center at Tulsa Expo Square from June 23-25.
On the first floor, 197 gleaming cars and pick-up trucks lined up to win trophies in 19 various classes, such as Mopar, Mustang, Cougar, and Import. From a 1920s Model T Ford to a 2021 Ford Mustang GT, 100 years of cars were represented. Visitors climbed stairs to the second floor for the rest of Road Fest.
Route 66’s history was explained in decade-by-decade journey exhibits, each octagon module containing two cars and actors in costume representative of that period of time. Key events that shaped America and people’s use of the road were explained, such as the Dust Bowl and migration to California (1930s), WWII (1940s) and post-war WWII family vacations (1950s).
“The last one [module] is the 1990s to today, and that focuses on the revitalization, the refurbishing of the route. [It] focuses on what’s going on now,” Wade Bray told TulsaKids Magazine. He is the curator and designer of Route 66 Road Fest and the creative director of SRO Productions.
In the Route 66 Community area, three Route 66 Associations provided information how they preserve and promote their slice of the road (Oklahoma, Texas, California); representatives from towns and districts in Oklahoma had booths (Catoosa, Sapulpa, Claremore, Tahlequah, and the Green and Great Plains Countries), and vendors sold a variety of Route 66 merchandise. Jan Gaylord, a volunteer at the Oklahoma Route 66 Association booth, said, “There’s something for everyone.”
Rhys Martin, President of Oklahoma Route 66 Association, attended all three days of Road Fest. He wrote, “The Association has been around since 1989, not long after the road was federally decommissioned, and has been the only statewide organization promoting Route 66 ever since. In a way, you can look at an event like the Road Fest and see it as a realization of our efforts over the last 30 years. Route 66 is still out there. It’s still important. And it’s still worth exploring. We’re ecstatic that the upcoming Centennial has brought a lot more people to the table, including AAA, that understand the unique iconic place that the Mother Road has in this country’s history.”
The Oklahoma Route 66 Association had 21 new or renewed memberships and raised over $1,000 through merchandise sales. Diane D’Agosto of Broken Arrow and Debbie Goolsby of Tulsa joined during the event; D’Agosto said she joined because “It looks like a fun group.”
Nearby in the Kid’s Activity Zone, children pedaled cars in a slalom course, raced Hot Wheels and home-made cars in the Box Car Derby, and played putt-putt golf.
The Vintage Trailer Resort (grouping of small travel trailers), a replica of a 1950s-1960s drive-in theater, and guest speakers created interest. Author and voice of The Sheriff (from the Cars movie) Michael Wallis, former Oklahoma History Museum Curator Bob Blackburn, author Joe Sonderman, and others gave informative talks about people and events along Route 66.
The Road Fest is the brainchild of Steve Wood, an AAA Club Alliance Board member, according to Jared Peterson, Executive Vice President for AAA in Oklahoma. Peterson recounted what Wood said. “AAA should put on a festival, celebrating, recognizing the great history of Route 66, but also all the great things that are taking place to revitalize it.” The idea took a couple of years to grab traction, but when AAA considered how to support the upcoming 2026 centennial anniversary, Wood’s idea was chosen.
The first Road Fest was held in Oklahoma City and Tulsa in 2022. This year, only Tulsa was chosen. Peterson said, “We’re investing in this Road Fest really to draw attention to all the great things around Route 66 and build up again for the big centennial celebration.”
He said AAA and Route 66 have much in common. “Supporting road trips, family vacations, you know, our maps and our AAA TripTiks that people have known for years and years. We just felt that the tie between…both brands is so natural.”
Was Road Fest successful? Peterson said yes, listing 5,645 visitors, 121 vendors, and 197 cars in the car show, which almost filled the 354,000 square foot SageNet. He offered this perspective as well. “We want to get families here. You know, this isn’t just a car show…because we want to expose young people and young families to Route 66. I’m seeing a really good mix there so far.”
He concluded, “AAA wants to officially thank them [communities living along Route 66] for supporting our event…We just need to keep working together to keep building on positioning Oklahoma to be the epicenter for the Route 66 Centennial.”
The event was also a great reunion for several long-time roadies. Wolfgang Werz, of Route 66 Germany, just so happened to be heading back to Chicago after leading his latest motorcycle tour down the Mother Road. He stopped in for a few minutes to check it out, which he described as, “The best exposition I’ve ever seen!” Toshi Goto from the Route 66 Association of Japan also found himself in Tulsa at the right time and brought a friend to check out Road Fest. They, too, were impressed at the scale of the festival. On Sunday, a group of roadies from multiple states, which also included Brennen Matthews and his family, sang Happy Birthday to Jerry McClanahan, who celebrated his 66th with us!
Finally, the Oklahoma Route 66 Association received a wonderful gift! “Big Mike” from Route 66 Road Relics in Seligman, Arizona (who was set up across the walkway from the Association) donated an authentic 1966 Oklahoma License plate for the Association archives.
Check out more photos from Road Fest on our Flickr page!
