Amarillo gears up for 2025 Texas Route 66 Festival as centennial plans take shape

AMARILLO, Texas (KVII) — One of the many observations for this week in the month of May is National Travel & Tourism Week. May 7, marks National Tourism Day.

In 2026, it marks the centennial celebration of the Texas Route 66 Festival. It’s a once-in-a-century celebration honoring 100 years of road tripping on the Mother Road, and final preparations are underway for the 2025 version of the Texas Route 66 Festival.”

“There’s a ton that goes into planning this event because it’s not just the Visit Amarillo show; we work with partners across the entire region and in the Texas root to put this on,” said Hope Stokes Hoeffner, director of marketing for Visit Amarillo.

Securing funding sources is becoming more of a challenge as there are budget cuts being made across the country in the form of grants. That’s why events like this will rely on community sponsorships now more than ever.

“Exactly, it would be next to impossible to put on, which is why we're so grateful for everybody's contribution to revitalizing Route 66 and giving us this opportunity,” said Luz Aguilar, tourism manager for Visit Amarillo.

“Visit Amarillo puts a lot of money into it, said Stokes Hoeffner. “We’re not to the point of breaking even yet, that’s not the point of this. We’re very much focused on supporting the community bringing in annual events that will help support the base tourism for Amarillo.”

The first of 10 days for the 2025 Texas Route 66 Festival gets underway on Thursday, June 5. The final two events are taking place on Saturday, June 14.

Dates for the Centennial Celebration have been released by Visit Amarillo.

The 100th anniversary celebration will start on June 4 and run through June 13 in 2026.