FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The West Central Neighborhood Alliance will host a pre-party for the Birthplace of Route 66 Festival Parade 4:30-6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 12 at the Birthplace of Route 66 Roadside Park at College Street and Fort Avenue. Join them for pizza and drinks and watch more than 400 classic cars line up along College Street before the parade kicks off at 6:30 p.m. The Birthplace of Route 66 Festival began in 2011 as a West Central Neighborhood car show to fund-raise for improvements to the College Avenue portion of Springfield’s stretch of Route 66. By 2015, the festival had grown into a two-day car show and drew 23,000 people to downtown Springfield. ### For more information, please call Director of Public Information & Civic Engagement Cora Scott at 417-864-1009 or 417-380-3352.