I stopped by the balloon glow in Forest Park on Friday. This is the warm up to the balloon race that takes places each fall in Forest Park. All the participants of the race set up their balloons in central field in Forest Park and between 7–8:30 people can come by and see the balloons up close and personal. Its interesting because for the balloons to stay inflated they have to continuously fire and this illuminates everything around it for a few seconds. With dozens of balloons all over the field it creates quite the light show. After 8:30 they put on a fireworks show in the middle of the field. It was a little damp and cool but that didn’t ruin anyone’s fun. Many stayed and enjoyed the fireworks before dispersing to the Central West End or Dogtown where many parked or went to enjoy the evening after the balloon glow was over.
Read more about the Great Forest Park Balloon Race
Balloons are mostly sponsored by major corporations and many have big logos on them like RE/MAX and Wells Fargo. Some balloons are in different shapes like the Energizer Bunny. This is definitely a family event and yet another example of many of the great things Forest Park has to offer. Fall is an especially great time in St. Louis because there are multiple festivals all over the St. Louis area every weekend. Next weekend we have Taste of St. Louis coming up Downtown and following that in early October there is Soulard Oktoberfest, which has grown tremendously over the last few years. These festivals are held in some St. Louis’ best destination neighborhoods and landmarks. Make sure to check out the neighborhoods and local establishments if you’re coming from another part of the St. Louis area. You may find a gem and maybe even create your own tradition!
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch had an article online about upcoming fall events you can read here.
Here is a shameless plug for me with the RE/MAX Balloon and with the truck
