For the second year in a row, there will be no Birthplace of Route 66 Festival in downtown Springfield.
As a partner in the event, the city of Springfield called off the festival because of COVID-19 concerns.
Director of Public Information and Civic Engagement Cora Scott says the city is very disappointed. “With our region’s low vaccination rate against COVID-19, the resulting surge of infections are overwhelming our hospitals and making our community sick,” Scott said. “We feel it is just not safe to bring tens of thousands of people from all over the world to this community for any reason.”
The city says car and motorcycle show participants, musical acts, vendors and exhibitors should have been notified about the cancellation.