The rumble of nearly 1,000 motorcycles rips through the stifling mid-summer heat, permeated by the smell of charred meat. The ground vibrates as a heavy metal tribute band sweats through set after set. Car enthusiasts line up to snap a photo of the ’57 Chevrolet Bel Air “Blue Angel”, while hungry festivalgoers watch a grill master demonstrate how to break down a whole hog.
This is a Route 66 fest, but it’s not taking place in Amarillo, Texas, or Galena, Kansas. It’s not even in the United States. This is Prague, Czechia.
Tens of thousands of Route 66 enthusiasts from Italy to England descended upon the Czech capital in late August 2024 for the return of the European Route 66 Festival. The fest, which occurs every two years, had been on hiatus since 2018 due to pandemic-related dormancy, and now it was back. Even the President of Czechia was on site to officially kick off the three days of Americana bliss and shake hands with Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor Matt Pinnell.
The festival’s revival was part of a larger event—the All American Fest—widely known among European roadies for its “Harley Days” celebration of the classic American chopper.
“For so many people, especially in Europe, Route 66 represents this microcosm of America,” says Rhys Martin, president of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association. Martin was part of a delegation that flew from the U.S. heartland for the Czech festival. He described the festivities, which took over central Prague’s exhibition grounds, as a surreal “bubble” of American nostalgia.
Why do people in Europe celebrate America’s Route 66?
To understand how Route 66 ended up in central Europe, you need to understand the super-fans who brought it here. The festival is put on for those who dream of cruising the iconic American eight-state route and for the small but mighty European faction of Route 66 die-hards who can’t wait to do it again.
Zdeněk Jurásek, president of the Czech Route 66 Association, first traversed the entirety of Route 66 on a bicycle in 1998. He later led tour groups of Czechs and Slovaks down America’s Main Street. But he felt the nagging absence of Route 66’s spirit in his homeland.
So in 2007, Jurásek teamed up with friends to create the Czech Route 66 Association. Others followed suit. Wolfgang and Anja Werz started Route 66 Germany in 2011, and Dries Dessels started the Dutch Route 66 Association in 2014. The German group then organized the first-ever European Route 66 Festival to transport the Americana spirit to the Old World.
That first festival took place in 2016 in Ofterdingen, Germany, and it brought together Route 66 fans from across the continent, as far as Scotland and the Canary Islands. Representatives from several U.S. states and the historic Boots Motel in Carthage, Missouri, turned up to the Bavarian gathering. There was a poker run, a photo contest, and a classic rock band. Evenings were spent exchanging travel stories in dimly lit taverns.
“Its success convinced us to continue,” says Jurásek. Two years later, the festival was transported to Zlin, Czechia, where it grew to around 10,000 attendees. By 2024, that number had doubled.
Today, the festival attracts not only Europeans who’ve made the Route 66 trek but also motorcyclists and classic-car lovers. “Route 66 is what brings them together—a theme that remains entirely positive, non-divisive, and genuinely welcoming,” says Jurásek.
The deeper meaning behind Route 66 for many Europeans today
Part of Route 66 culture evokes a nostalgic, if romanticized, view of the USA. But upon experiencing the all-American road trip on the ground, the idea of riding a Harley off into a desert sunset develops into a more profound story.
“Route 66 represents freedom, good music, food, history, and an encounter with American traditions and culture—but at the same time, it’s about people and their stories,” Marián Pavel, founder of the app Route 66 Navigation, wrote to me in an email while on the road in Arizona on his 17th trip down Route 66, despite having grown up in Slovakia. “Many will start a conversation with you, and you often find yourself relaxing on the patio of a historic Route 66 motel with a beer in hand, talking as if you’d known each other for a hundred years. . . . A journey on Route 66 will break down your prejudices, show you rural America and its people in their true light.”
Martin of Oklahoma agrees. “When [travelers] do get here, they get to experience places that tell the story of Native American culture here in Oklahoma, or the African American traveling experience during Route 66’s so-called heyday, which was very different than it was for white Americans,” he explains. Martin points to the Threatt Filling Station in Luther, Oklahoma, the only known Black-owned and -operated gas station on Route 66, which will reopen in May 2026 as an interpretive center about being a Black traveler during the Jim Crow era.
For Jurásek, Route 66 is so much more than neon-clad motels and quirky photo ops.
“Speaking as someone from a part of Europe long controlled by communist regimes, Route 66 carried an almost mythical meaning,” says Jurásek. “We weren’t allowed to travel west, so for many of us, the Mother Road symbolized, first of all, freedom and a different way of life.”
Passing through state after state, with borders marked only by welcome signs, has long been an American privilege, predating the European Union’s open-border concept by a couple hundred years.
Pavel, who grew up in the former Czechoslovakia in the 1980s, remembers borders fenced off by barbed wire. “For me, Route 66 represents the kind of freedom many people, accustomed to its benefits, take for granted—the ability to simply pack up, get on a motorcycle, and ride across a vast country . . . just because I can.”
Europeans coming out west for the centennial
The next edition of the European Route 66 Festival would have taken place this year, but the organizers are planning to skip it this time around. After all, 2026 is also the 100-year anniversary of Route 66 in the U.S. Since Jurásek—and undoubtedly many others—will be celebrating out on the open road, festivalgoers will have to wait for the next iteration in 2028.
For now, if you’re on a road trip between Chicago and Los Angeles or planning to participate in any centennial events, look for more Europeans on the Mother Road.
“In the centennial year, I’ll be spending a significant amount of time in the United States,” says Jurásek. “Together with our fans, we’ve planned three full crossings of the route—something I’m truly excited about.”
