05/11/2026
Mark your calendars for Saturday, June 20th – which is going to be a VERY exciting afternoon in Collinsville! As part of this year's Route 66 Centennial and America 250 celebrations, the City of Collinsville, Illinois (Official), Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau and the Collinsville Chamber of Commerce (IL) are teaming up to be a stop on the 2026 Hemmings Great Race!
Mark your calendars for Saturday, June 20th – which is going to be a VERY exciting afternoon in Collinsville!
As part of this year's Route 66 Centennial and America 250 celebrations, the City of Collinsville, Illinois (Official), Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau and the Collinsville Chamber of Commerce (IL) are teaming up to be a stop on the 2026 Hemmings Great Race!
Great Race participants will be arriving Uptown around 4pm on Saturday, June 20th. The City anticipates around 140 antique vehicles (from 1974 or prior) and up to 5,000 spectators for the Great Race alone – but there will also be a number of additional activities happening Uptown on the same afternoon, including:
🍅 The World's Largest Catsup Bottle Festival from 2-7pm at Herald Square, which includes a plethora of family-friendly activities AND a visit from the EPIC Big Idaho Potato Tour;
🏎️ Additional Octane Tour car shows in the parking lot across from City Hall and in the First National Bank of Waterloo parking lot as well as members of the Looking Glass Corvette Club lining one lane of Main Street from Hesperia through Seminary to create a grand entrance for the Great Race vehicles;
🛒 Shopping, food and drink specials at Uptown businesses that will be promoted before and on the day of the event (with so many visitors expected Uptown that day, we want your business to capitalize on this event!);
🎶 Live music from Justin Rose – who weaves Americana soul, bluegrass energy, and indie spirit into a sound that feels fresh yet familiar – in front of City Hall;
🚒 A small Touch-A-Truck area for families to check out vehicles from the Collinsville Illinois Fire Department, Collinsville Illinois Police Department and the City's Public Works Department;
🍔 Food trucks such as Takozz, Heaterz Food Trucks, Overboard8, Big Meechie’s and Pig on a wing serving up delicious eats; and
🛣️ Extended hours at attractions like the Collinsville Historical Museum (where you can learn all about the history of Route 66 in Collinsville) and potentially the Collins House!
🇺🇸 We're also encouraging Uptown businesses and businesses along the Great Race route (255 ➡️ Horseshoe Lake Road ➡️ 157 ➡️ Main Street ➡️ Uptown) to decorate their storefronts/lawns in an Americana or Route 66-related theme for the day of the event. Collinsville is in the running to be the Best Stop on the Great Race – and we're going up against cities such as Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque, Flagstaff and San Bernadino, so we need YOUR help! The bigger and more beautiful, the better!
A "GREAT" thank-you to everybody who has been working behind-the-scenes over the past year to make this a fantastic day for Collinsville!
For more information about:
✅ The Great Race: https://www.greatrace.com/
✅ The World's Largest Catsup Bottle Festival: https://catsupbottlefestival.com/
