Rockin' Route 66 canceled again

The Rockin’ Route 66 festival in Tucumcari, usually scheduled in late June, has been canceled for a third straight year.

The announcement of the cancellation was posted on the music festival’s social media account Thursday morning.

“It is with heavy heart that we will be cancelling this year’s Rockin Route 66,” the post stated. “Due to the affects of Covid and recent city changes, we are unable to move forward with this year’s Rockin’ Route 66.”

It added the festival organizers “will be working towards a healthy return of Rockin’ Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico.”

Rockin’ Route 66 was Tucumcari’s largest festival before the COVID-19 pandemic.

A phone message left with Rockin’ Route 66 promoter Brian Whitcomb was not returned.

The cancellation of the festival wasn’t unexpected. City Manager Mark Martinez warned the city’s lodgers tax advisory board in April that Whitcomb might cancel this year’s or the 2023 edition of the festival due to his financial difficulties and the board’s reluctance to recommend Whitcomb’s revised request of $69,000 in aid for the festival.

Whitcomb, through his Grease Inc. Magazine account, also stated on social media in late March “we will be moving on to new adventures and stepping away from many of our known events and routines” because “we’ve seen ourselves in a constant fight to maintain a consistent viable source of revenue for our brands and our crew to live.”

The Rockin’ Route 66 website and Facebook page also hadn’t been updated since the fall 2021.

During a city commission work session Thursday to discuss lodgers tax aid requests, Martinez said Whitcomb still wanted to try to organize a Rockin’ Route 66 event in Tucumcari in 2023. Martinez recommended rolling over the previous fiscal year’s aid allocation of $25,000 to the next fiscal year, then using $35,000 in lodgers tax executive funds “to keep the event alive.”

The festival still was met with some skepticism.

Commissioner Ralph Moya was irked by Rockin’ Route 66 using some of the lodgers tax money to put on a livestreamed event in Georgia in 2020.

“We’re not in the business of giving somebody money and getting nothing in return,” Moya said, who recommended not allocating any money for the event.

Martinez pointed out the full allotment of lodgers tax money wasn’t used in 2020 and that funds are given only on a reimbursement basis for incurred costs.

Commissioner Mike Cherry agreed with Moya, adding festivals need to do a better job proving a return on investment.

Martinez said comment cards recently were distributed to the city’s motels, asking guests why they stopped in Tucumcari and how they arrived at their decisions. He said those should give the city more data on tourism.

Lodgers Tax Advisory Board Chairman Matt Bednorz said Rockin’ Route 66 would have to generate more than $830,000 in motel bookings, restaurant business and other spending in Tucumcari to justify the cost.

Al Patel, a member of the board and owner of the Desert Inn Motel, said more tourism off-season events are needed. During the summer, he said his and other motels often are booked full.

Rockin’ Route 66 in 2019 became a replacement for Rockabilly on the Route festival after it went on a two-year and ultimately permanent hiatus.

However, the pandemic prompted the cancellation of Rockin’ Route 66 in 2020 and 2021.

Commissioners also used the work session to discuss lodgers tax funding for other events and entities. They largely seemed to concur with the board’s initial suggestions. The city commission likely will take final action on those recommendations during its next meeting May 12.

Funding changes for the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce recommended by Martinez included $9,000 for an events coordinator, $12,000 for the visitors center and $9,000 for the chamber director attending tourism conferences. Martinez said he made the recommendations after conferring earlier in the day with chamber director Scott Crotzer.

Martinez said he also is considering issuing a request for proposals to find a manager to more fully market the Tucumcari Convention Center.