Tanglefoot Dance Hall in Festus offers what the owners believe is something unique to the region.
Tom and Kristin Vogel of Festus opened the dance hall at 201 E. Main St. in May, providing guests with dancing, dance lessons and other activities. In June, they obtained a state liquor license and now operates as a bar and grill, too.
“Since I’m president of the Festus Main Street Association, I have my ear to the ground,” Tom Vogel said. “So, I’m always listening to people and asking them what they want. I’ve heard several people say they are driving over an hour away several days a week to go dancing. So, I knew that there was already a demand for this in the area.”
He said it quickly became apparent the dance hall was filling a need, despite the absence of alcoholic drinks at first. He and his wife own the building.
“We opened with mocktails and dancing,” he said. “It took over 2 1/2 months to get our license from the state. I applied in March. I got it June 9. The bar is open every day we’re open.
“The response has been overwhelming. People come up and thank us every day that we’re open. We had over 70 people here yesterday on a Tuesday night. We’re pulling from a pretty big area. We’re getting people from Farmington. We’re getting people from St. Charles, from north St. Louis. We’re getting a lot of Illinois people. We are pulling a lot of people several days a week onto Festus Main Street.”
So far, guests have come in various age groups, he said.
“It’s mostly a mixed crowd,” Vogel said. “There’s the classic country dances, which is a little bit of an older crowd, but then there are the new popular dances that (bring) the younger crowds that are not too country, but more like today’s pop.”
The hours of operation for Tanglefoot Dance Hall are 6 p.m. to midnight Tuesday through Saturday and 4-9 p.m. Sunday, which the Vogels call Family Day.
“We allow all ages before 8 p.m.” Vogel said. “Anybody is welcome to come for our dance lessons. Our dance lessons are always within that time period and then on Family Day.
“Tuesdays and Wednesdays are for 18 and over. Thursday, Friday and Saturday are for 21 and over after 8 p.m. Sundays are for all ages. (The hours) are kind of floating based on the response we’re getting from people. We might update that.”
Those who come to Tanglefoot Dance Hall may take line dance instruction or just start dancing.
“We have a variety of dance instructors,” he said. “We have a dance instructor every day.
“We have line dancing, which is a lot of country songs, but there’s also a lot of songs that are not country songs that have line dances. We also do country swing and two-step.
“We have beginning line dance instructors. We have some improver, or intermediate, line dance instructors. We have advanced line dance instructors. We have country swing instructors. We have two-step instructors. This is a country dance hall, but not every song is country.”
He said those unfamiliar with line dancing, but want to try it, can pick up the basics quickly.
“Anybody can come to the classes, especially the beginner classes,” Vogel said. “The advanced ones are a little tougher and faster. But, the beginner ones, anybody could jump in. You don’t need to have experience. Our instructors will teach you two or three line dances and then, what they’ll do, they’ll usually stick around and show you some of the easier, too. But, if you come several times a week, you’ll start to learn more and more dances and jump out there more. But you don’t need any experience to come here.”
There is a cover charge to enter.
“Every day, we charge a $5 cover,” he said. “That $5 fee covers our dance instructors and our DJ. We will eventually have live music. If that’s the case, depending on the band, we might do a higher cost for cover, But, basically, just count on every day being a $5 cover.”
He praised the people he and his wife hired to operate the dance hall.
“We have a manager, Kayla Johnson, and she’s basically in charge,” he said. “She’s been running the place. She’s been in the dance community for years.
“We have a kitchen, as well. It’s a bar food-type menu. We have the best burger in Festus, I believe. That’s a bold statement, I know. We have a chef, Kevin Brown, and he’s running the kitchen back there, and he’s turning out amazing food. He hand-breads all of his fried pickles. He hand-breads all of his onion rings. He makes his own ranch from scratch. We have a new chicken wrap that’s become our bestseller and it’s amazing. He’s made it so good.”
Attendees appreciate when he and staff members join in the dances, Vogel said.
“I’m enjoying it,” he said. “I’m learning line dances. I was never a line dancer, but now I know a lot. I’m starting to learn country swing, and I did two-step class yesterday. So, I’m really enjoying it, as well.”
Other activities are available at the dance hall, he said.
“We also have cornhole,” he said. “We have beer pong. We bought a sports package on the TVs back here. We have darts.”
The Vogels own other businesses, including the Common Ground event space in Festus.
For more information, go to tanglefootdancehall.com or visit the Tanglefoot Dance Hall page on Facebook.