Red Carpet Festival Plans Made

Our thanks to Ellie Alexander of Pontiac, IL Tourism for submitting the following update about the Red Carpet Corridor Festival:

The 2012 Red Carpet Corridor Festival, planned for May 5th and 6th, is currently organizing for its 6th annual celebration of historic Route 66. The Red Carpet Corridor is a 90-mile stretch of the Mother Road that begins in Joliet in the north and ends at Towanda in the south. Each of the 13 towns located along that section of road holds its own special events for the two-day weekend festival. There will be car and motorcycle shows, live entertainments, carnivals, flea markets, special events just for children, food, fun, and more.

In Pontiac, the festival will feature a downtown carnival sponsored by P.R.O.U.D., an art show on the square, and new art works painted live on sidewalks by visiting Chinese artist, Tang Dongbai. The Parks and Recreation department will host the Touch-A-Truck experience for kids on Saturday morning at the Pontiac Recreation Center, 900 North Elm Street and the Jolly Trolley will be giving rides during the day. As usual, there will be city-wide yard and garage sales.

Local artists who wish to display their works in the downtown art show are asked to contact Kristen at the Walldog Mural and Sign Art Museum, (815) 842-1848. Parties interested in having their garage or yard sale listed on the sale map distributed by the Pontiac Chamber of Commerce should contact the Chamber at (815) 844-5131.

Coinciding with the Red Carpet Festival will be the opening of a new exhibit at the Route 66 Association of Illinois Hall of Fame and Museum. The Selle-Agner exhibit will open on Saturday, May 5th. The exhibit focuses on the American lifestyle of the 1940s. It features three complete rooms (kitchen, living room and dining room) with furniture and décor appropriate to the '40s, examples of women’s fashion from the era, a display of World War II memorabilia and artifacts, musical instruments and much more. The opening ceremonies will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10AM, and live 1940s music provided by the “1940s All-Stars” who will “Jump and Jive” in celebration.