Route 66 Centennial Downtown
Image: Downtown Albuquerque on a Sunday evening.
There are so many ways to participate with the Route 66 Centennial in Downtown Albuquerque! From gallery and museum exhibitions, history talks, public art tours, new public art, community passports, and more! Don’t forget to visit our webpage for the Route 66 Centennial for even more resources. Below are some of the latest Downtown Route 66 Centennial updates.
Downtown now has its own Route 66 visitor center located right at the Crossroads! At the historic intersection of 4th Street and Central Avenue – where two alignments of Route 66 meet – Visit Albuquerque has a visitors information center for all your Route 66 needs. Snap a photo behind a cutout of a classic car, grab a Visitors Guide, and ask our on-site staff about all the exciting things to do on Albuquerque’s Route 66.
The Information Station is inside the Rosenwald Building, on the southeast corner of the intersection. Look for the wrapped streetlight poles and the Route 66 photo-op on the corner, which stands in front of the visitor center.
The Route 66 Information Station is now one of our Route 66 Centennial Passport locations! Pick up a passport and start your sticker collection of New Mexico MainStreet districts along Route 66 today.
Image: Open Air Gallery at Civic Plaza by the City’s Arts & Culture Department
As part of Albuquerque’s Route 66 Centennial celebration, the Department of Arts & Culture is bringing back the Open Air Gallery to downtown’s Civic Plaza, featuring photography and poetry inspired by the historic Mother Road.
The exhibition, titled Sunday on Central Avenue, showcases Route 66 photography by Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli, Jessica Roybal, and Gabriela Campos alongside poetry by Damien Flores and Levi Romero, blending visual storytelling with the written word.
The exhibition is part of the City’s broader Route 66 Centennial efforts highlighting Albuquerque’s creative community and the enduring legacy of the Mother Road through art, exhibitions, performances, and cultural programming. The exhibition will be on view through the Route 66 Centennial.
Climb aboard for a one-of-a-kind journey down the Mother Road with ABQ Trolley Co.’s Route 66 Remixed Tour—a rolling celebration of 100 years of America’s most iconic highway.
This immersive multimedia experience brings Route 66 to life, blending rich history with bold, contemporary creativity while inviting you to see Albuquerque’s stretch of the road in a whole new light.
Expect vibrant visuals, engaging narration, and a fresh perspective on a road that never stops evolving. Whether you’re a Route 66 enthusiast or a first-time traveler, this tour is your ticket to experience the past, present, and future of the Mother Road—remixed.
Multiple dates are offered each month on the weekends through December.
Tours start at Tour ABQ’s location in Old Town.
All Ages
Tickets $30 - $45
Get tickets and learn more at the link below.
Image: ABQ Museum: The Other Route 66: 100 Years of People, Identity, and Place in Albuquerque
November 11, 2026 marks the centennial of Route 66, a road often celebrated as a symbol of freedom and the American dream. Stretching across seven states and over 2,400 miles, Route 66 carried millions of travelers, hosted countless small businesses, and became a site of encounter, displacement, and settlement. Yet the story of this iconic highway is far from uniform, and each path it crosses has its own story to tell. The Other Route 66: 100 Years of People, Identity, and Place in Albuquerque invites visitors to explore these layered narratives. This exhibition centers the lives of those who traveled, worked, and lived alongside the road, including stories often left out of mainstream accounts: migrants seeking opportunity, communities shaped by segregation and commerce, and the individuals whose identities were forged at this intersection of movement and place.
The Other Route 66: 100 Years of People, Identity, and Place
June 12, 2026 - January 3, 2027
ABQ Museum
Get tickets to the museum HERE.