Want to spraypaint one of the cars at the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, but can’t get there? The third annual Kingman Route 66 Fest in Kingman, Arizona, on Oct. 13-14 offers a facsimile of that.
The festival is offering a Cadillac Ranch Experience. The news release explains:
Brand new to the Fest this year! The Cadillac Ranch Experience gives spectators a chance to make their mark with a spray can. The Festival will erect six silhouettes of Cadillacs, with styles ranging from 1949 to 1960 mimicking the genuine roadside attraction outside of Amarillo, TX. Event spectators who sign a waiver and purchase a premium activity wristband will have a chance at select times Friday and Saturday to add their art to one of the silhouette cars.
That’s not the only graffiti-themed activity at the festival:
Road Sign Graffiti Contest: Let your creativity run wild and participate in our Route 66 Road Sign Graffiti Contest. Express yourself and leave your mark on the Route! Registration is $30 and the contest is limited to eight participants, who will have exactly 66 minutes to complete their artwork on a decommissioned road sign. Winner will receive a cash prize of $150! Saturday, October 14th at 1:15pm.
A substantial number of roadies don’t like the graffiti activity at Cadillac Ranch — though longtime owner Stanley Marsh 3 encouraged it — because they suspect it entices people to “tag” other landmarks along Route 66. (I don’t know if that’s ever been proven.)
If you don’t care for the graffiti, Kingman Route 66 Fest also offers a pinup contest, live music, car and motorcycle shows, a vintage trailer show and a children’s Fun Zone.
Admission to the festival at Lewis Kingman Park is free. Public parking will be available in the adjacent lot at the corner of Andy Devine Avenue (aka Route 66) and Fairgrounds Avenue.
Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez and Doug Michels of the Ant Farm art collective created Cadillac Ranch in 1974 by planting 10 vintage Cadillacs into nose-first into the ground. Marsh sponsored the project.
Cadillac Ranch in 1997 was moved two miles west after Amarillo’s sprawl encroached on the installation.
Save for the possible exceptions of Palo Duro Canyon and the Big Texan Steak Ranch, it remains the area’s most popular tourist attraction. It’s become a part of popular culture, including the “Cadillac Ranch” song by Bruce Springsteen, inspiring the Cadillac Range mountains in the Disney-Pixar movie “Cars,” and has been featured in countless videos, photographs and television shows.
(Image of a visitor spraypainting a car at Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, by Lars Ploughman via Flickr)