A ‘Golden’ day on Route 66, as Azusa celebrates community, iconic road’s centennial

It was a bright day for a parade on the Mother Road in a city that treasures it.

Marching bands and cheerleading squads, football teams and baile folkorico dance troupes, Chevrolet low-riders and vintage Fords, they all wound along the downtown strip of Azusa, otherwise known as part of the iconic Route 66, in the culmination of the city’s week-long Golden Days festivities.

With roots going back to 1949, the annual gathering began as a commemoration to the state’s gold rush centennial, with celebrations scattered across California cities.

While having faded across the state, the tradition continues in Azusa. This year was no exception as it added another milestone to its event: the centennial of Route 66.

“Route 66 is so historic, and it goes right down, right in front of our city hall, right through our downtown, and it’s been here for so many years,” said Mayor Eddie Alvarez, as he passed along celebratory pins and clips to familiar faces lining the parade grounds.

Alvarez, who comes from a long line of Azusans, said his first year as mayor has brought a new appreciation for the event he’s celebrated his whole life.

With the city’s annual event coinciding with Route 66’s centennial, the Azusa Golden Days Committee closed down the highway otherwise known as Foothill Boulevard instead of the San Gabriel Boulevard where the Saturday parade has been held in past years.

The weeklong celebration held various events oriented around the historic route, like a “Route 66 Centenial 5K” marathon led by the city’s Canyon City Run Club and “Chalkin’ the mother road” chalk festival.

It comes as no surprise that the week drew crowds in a city that pays tribute to the route through murals, monuments and storefronts.

“Route 66 right runs through the heart of town. Anything that you wanted to sell or anything that you wanted to present – that was a street you wanted to be on,” said Jeffrey Cornejo, city clerk and chairman of the committee.

Though street signs, murals, monuments and storefronts highlight the road’s presence throughout town, it can be easy to forget the route’s role in Azusa.

Resident Rosa Carriel has celebrated Golden Days since she was a child raised in Azusa, and continues to come out with her son Daniel Carriel, whose own daughter was playing saxophone in the Azusa High School’s band marching down the road.

“We grew up in Azusa, so we come every year,” Daniel Carriel said. “Route 66 is a part of our childhoods.”

Rosa Carriel added that coming out to the downtown strip gives her a chance to notice how the strip has changed since her youth, which just 10 years ago integrated into Los Angeles County’s metro system.

All the while, growth has spurred the residential population up to almost 50,000 as it has local college enrollment, such as Azusa Pacific University 11% year over growth in 2024, according to Data USA.

Despite the city’s growth, which is among the highest in the San Gabriel Valley, Alvarez said the celebration is about more than an interstate, but about how its interconnected communities.

“Azusa has always been an a very inclusive, celebratory town that appreciates the involvement of its residents,” Cornejo said. “That’s what the whole celebration of Golden Days is.”

Amancai Biraben is a correspondent with the Southern California News Group.