Wildwood residents can celebrate the 100th birthday of Route 66 without leaving town this Sunday, when Parkside Grille hosts an afternoon of themed food, drinks, and live music starting at 2 p.m.

Blues City Swing takes the stage from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., followed by Danny Steele and the Razor Boys from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The event is part of Wildwood's season-long Route 66 Centennial Celebration, which runs through October along the Manchester Road corridor.

The city allocated $10,000 for centennial promotion this fiscal year and has partnered with local businesses to offer Route 66-themed specials. Big Chief Roadhouse, Good News Brewing, The Porch, Wildwood Fitness Collective, and Three French Hens are among the participating businesses, according to city economic development records.

A three-day festival follows July 17–19, anchored at the newly opened Village Green, the six-acre park next to City Hall at 16860 Main Street that held its grand opening April 25.

Friday, July 17 brings a Music on Main concert featuring The Rockwood Boys (6:45–9:15 p.m.), plus classic vehicle displays and Essen Log Cabin tours. Saturday, July 18 features a corridor-wide cruise starting at 10:30 a.m. with free shuttles connecting stops along the route. Sunday wraps with Route 66-themed brunches, a historic marker unveiling at Big Chief Roadhouse, and a presentation by Joe Sonderman, a Route 66 radio personality and editor for Show Me Route 66.

The celebration got rolling in April, when residents Tom Kelpe and Rich Hardt guided a State Historical Society of Missouri tour group along the corridor in a 1922 Model T and a 1926 Chevrolet Coupe. They visited Big Chief Roadhouse, Stovall's Grove, and the Wildwood Historical Society, a tour that "highlighted the people, places and stories that have defined the Mother Road for a century," said Robyn Keefe, Wildwood city planner.

More events follow through fall: a business coed softball tournament August 14–16, an outdoor screening of Cars 2 on August 21, and a Haunted Route 66 month in October. A 15-stop scavenger hunt is available now through a mobile app at grandstandsites.com.

Route 66 ran from Chicago to Los Angeles when it was established in 1926. Wildwood's stretch along Manchester Road contains several National Register landmarks, including Big Chief Roadhouse, built in 1928 and still operating as a full-service restaurant nearly a century later.