It’s usually a bad sign if a festival prunes back its entries and hours of operation. But the Route 66 Rendezvous in San Bernardino, Calif., with an annual attendance of well over a half-million, is not just any festival.
The San Bernardino County Sun reports that the number of car entries will be cut back from 2,448 to 1,900 to ensure that everyone participating has a reserved parking space. The number of entries last year was 2,151.
The festival is also closing each night at 9 p.m. instead of 10 p.m. for public safety reasons. The mayor says that people are usually tired by 8 p.m. after spending all day in the sun.
The article also details some other changes to the Rendezvous:
Another change will be that the popular Burnout Contest, which has typically taken place on Friday night, will move to Saturday night in hopes it will attract more people.
The Rendezvous will remain in downtown San Bernardino, but its reach will expand to Fifth Street this year. Last year, the streets of the cruise route were between Rialto Avenue and Fourth Street.