Collinsville Catsup Bottle Festival Returns for Route 66 Milestone

This year's Collinsville event honors 100 years of Route 66 and 77 years of the towering catsup bottle, setting the stage for a packed afternoon downtown.

Staff Report

Jun 15, 2026 10:14 AM

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COLLINSVILLE - The World’s Largest Catsup Bottle Festival will return to Collinsville on Saturday, June 20, from 2 to 7 p.m. at Old Herald Square, with this year’s event marking the 100th anniversary of Route 66 and the 77th birthday of the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle historic landmark.

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The festival will feature the Giant Idaho Potato Truck Tour and the Great Race Route 66 Road Rally. Organizers said the event will include activities such as the Princess Tomato and Sir Catsup Contest, old-fashioned birthday party games, tater tots and hot dogs smothered-in-ketchup eating contests, a ketchup tasting booth, a hula hoop competition, and water balloons.

Also scheduled is the Mascot Madness Dance-off Party with Izzy from the Gateway Grizzlies, Grimace from McDonald’s, Spuddy Buddy from the Idaho Potato Commission and other professional and collegiate mascots.

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Volunteer sign language interpreters from Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville will be available to assist deaf and hearing-impaired attendees, according to the release.

The Hemmings Great Race Road Rally, described in the release as a contingent of 150 antique and classic cars and trucks driving historic Route 66 from Illinois to California, is expected to be part of the event. Organizers said the first overnight stay will be in Collinsville, with vehicles expected to arrive around 4 p.m., line downtown Main Street, and remain on display until 7 p.m.

More details and a complete schedule are available at www.catsupbottlefestival.com.

The World’s Largest Catsup Bottle was built as a water tower for the Brooks catsup factory in 1949. It was saved from demolition in 1995 through the Catsup Bottle Preservation Group and a nationwide fundraising campaign. The landmark is a member of the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2002.

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