AMARILLO, Texas (KVII) — The celebrations honoring Texas Route 66 aka the Mother Road will continue on after the Route 66 Centennial in the month of June, in Amarillo.

One of the many sanctioned events to honor the Mother Road the Route 66 Centennial in 2026, will be taking place in the month of October.

The fifth annual Texas Route 66 Motor Tour is Oct. 1-3, from Texola on the eastern side of Texas on the Oklahoma state line to Glenrio in western part of Texas Panhandle. It has attracted the interest of people from across the world.

“The last three years we’ve had people from all Route 66, eight states from Illinois to California,” said Gary Daggett, president of the Old Route 66 Association of Texas. “We’ve had people come from UK, Germany on the trip. We’re actually going to have a group of 35 Australians coming on the tour this year.”

“Whether it’s a four-wheel eco-sport like my little hamster over here in the parking lot or a 1936 pickup it’s all fun,” said Brady Wilson, membership director for Old Route 66 Association of Texas. “If you’ve got four-wheels we encourage you to come out if it’s classic or modern or a tractor or motor home whatever you call it come bring it.”

“We’re excited to see lots of international visitors for the Texas Route 66 Motor Tour,” said Hope Hoeffner, marketing director for Visit Amarillo. “You might notice a lot of different people in town this year because they’re all celebrating Route 66. If you see an Aussie or someone from Germany welcome them in a true Texan fashion and say welcome to Amarillo.”

The old Route 66 Association has been around for a number of years. One of their focus points is to highlight all the stops in rural communities along the Mother Road.

“When you bring 100 plus people to a little town like Vega or Shamrock especially when you spend the night, you’re talking 50 plus hotel rooms and 100 plus people they got to eat somewhere,” said Daggett. “Last year we had 100 people in Vega, and they only had two restaurants, and we filled them both and people still had to wait.”

There’s still some space available to sign up for the 5th annual Texas Route 66 Motor Tour from Oct. 1-3 and honor the Mother Road. Cost to sign up is $66 for each adult and $33 per child.

Texas Route 66 Motor Tour to boost Panhandle towns with influx of global visitors (KVII)