Vintage, out-of-the-ordinary and everyday vehicles will be cruising up and down Main Street on June 6 as part of the Mayor’s Summer Cruise in Festus.
Festivities begin at 2 p.m. with an informal vehicle show on the Festus Public Library parking lot, 400 W. Main St. The cruise portion of the event officially kicks off at 6 p.m.
The activities are free for those who participate in the vehicle show or the cruise or to simply wish to attend the event, other than if they make purchases at a food truck, said Barb Lowry, the Festus recreation and tourism directory.
“There is no charge to show your car at the vehicle show,” she said. “I’m going to say, throughout the course of the afternoon, we’ll get 100 cars or more. We’ll have a DJ and a food truck. Both of them are (on the scene) 2 to 8.”
She said the cruising start time is more of a suggestion than a hardline kickoff. All licensed and insured vehicles are welcome, she said.
“They can drive up and down as long as they want,” Lowry said. “Usually, I’m going to say the cruising doesn’t start until 5 or 6. But, they can drive up and down it whenever they want.”
Those who come to line the sidewalks of Main Street to watch the cars and trucks pass by should bring lawn chairs, she said.
“There is no registration and no charge,” Lowry said. “Don’t listen to the scammers when they get on the Facebook events page and tell you they are accepting last-minute sign-ups and don’t be scammed. That has happened.
“In the past, I had somebody message me and say they were afraid they had just been scammed. They had paid $25 to sign up. I said, ‘Nope, I’m sorry, but that was a criminal.’”
Former Festus Mayor Mike Cage started a one-day cruising event in October 2010 as a way of reintroducing the activity to Main Street. Later, the summer cruise joined the fall cruise.
According to previous Leader stories, Festus Main Street was a well-known and hugely popular location for teenage cruising for decades. Motorists crept along the street between Mill and Adams streets.
However, in the late 1980s, the number of cruisers swelled to an unmanageable level, and the city blocked Main Street each Friday and Saturday night. Barricades went up each weekend for more than 15 years.
In 2003, the city reopened Main Street to two-way traffic on Friday and Saturday nights with hopes the move would bring customers back to downtown businesses. Cruising did not re-emerge as a problem.
The Festus Tourism Commission sponsors the summer and fall cruises. At its summer 2025 round of grants, the commission awarded a $4,050 grant to Lowry for each event in 2026.
For more information about the Mayor’s Summer Cruise or other city events, visit festusmo.gov and click “Around Town.”