For more details on the upcoming Arnold Days, see pages 1B-8B of the the Sept. 14 Arnold-Imperial Leader.
The annual three-day Arnold Days festival is expected to draw thousands of people to Arnold City Park this weekend, organizers said.
Festivities are scheduled from 5-11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15; 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16; and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, at the park is on Bradley Beach Road off Jeffco Boulevard near the Meramec River.
The event will include carnival rides, live music and food and craft vendors all three days, as well as a fireworks and laser show on Friday and Saturday nights, the annual Arnold Days Parade on Sunday and a bevy of returning attractions mixed in with some new ones.
“This is an event I look forward to,” said Ajsa Hukic, deputy director for the Arnold Parks and Recreation Department. “It is a lot of fun. It brings a lot of people to the park. We have something for everyone. There are free activities, carnival rides, shopping at the craft show, the different performances and contests.”
Friday
In addition to the carnival rides and vendors, the first day of the festival will feature a new lawn game tournament, a balloon artist and a Platinum Rock Legends band performance.
The lawn game tournament will be from 5:30-7 p.m. Participants may register for the tournament at the beer booth.
Kara Woldtvedt, Arnold Parks and Recreation Department supervisor, said participants in the tournament will have about 15 minutes to complete a frisbee game called Kan Jam, cornhole and ladder ball. The team that completes all three games in the fastest time will get their names put on a trophy to be displayed at the Arnold Recreation Center, 1695 Missouri State Road.
“People can sign up as a team with a maximum of three members, and two members compete at a time,” Woldtvedt said. “You can sign up as an individual and be paired with a partner.”
Little Egypt Shows of Marion, Ill., will provide the carnival rides throughout the festival.
Teresa Kohut, Arnold Parks and Recreation Department superintendent, said 18 rides will be operating at the festival.
She said the carnival rides are a popular part of the festival.
“There was one Arnold Days that was held without carnival rides, and it was not successful,” she said. “I think it is a huge draw to have the carnival rides there.”
John Stafford will sell balloon creations from 6-8 p.m. Balloons cost $3 each, and he only accepts cash, Kohut said.
“His balloons are really cool,” Kohut said. “They have lights inside them. They are more than your average balloon animals.”
The Platinum Rock Legends, a cover band whose members dress up like various performers, are scheduled to play from 7-11 p.m. on the main stage near the lake.
The first of two fireworks and laser shows are scheduled to start at about 9:30 p.m. The show last about 20 minutes and features fireworks shot from a barge that is in the lake.
“We added the lasers back in after canceling the Independence Day Celebration,” Kohut said of when Arnold canceled the July 1 because there was no power and downed trees in Arnold City Park following a storm that went through the area.
Saturday
The second day of the festival kicks off with the annual Children’s Fishing Tournament.
Registration is free and starts at 7 a.m. at the Pecan Pavilion. The fishing contest, open to children 12 and younger, will be held from 8-11 a.m.
The event is sponsored by the Jefferson County Optimist Club. Members of the St. Louis Longbeards, a chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, will be at the fishing tournament to loan fishing poles and tackle to those who need them.
Children are divided into four age groups – 5 and younger, 6-8, 9-10 and 11-12 – and prizes are awarded to the three children who catch the longest fish and the three children who catch the shortest fish in each age group.
“The Optimists provide prizes like tackle boxes and fishing poles,” Kohut said. “They are a great organization that has at their core the welfare of children.”
After the fishing tournament, the Longbeards will offer children the chance to make birdhouses from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The group also will have a BB-gun shooting range open for children.
“It is nice for parents to have activities that are free like the fishing tournament and crafts,” Kohut said. “It is fun for kids to have interactive activities that they can participate in without having to ask Mom and Dad for more money.”
Registration for the Car and Bike Show, which the Arnold Police Officers Association and Arnold Kiwanis Club are holding, is set for 8-11 a.m. Winners in 21 categories will be announced at 2 p.m.
“Some guys show up at 5 a.m. to stake out their spot,” Hukic said. “I think it is great. They draw a crowd.”
Another Saturday morning offering is the Arnold Farmers Market near the entrance of the park. It will be open from 8 a.m. to noon.
Kohut said the market typically has about 2,000 customers every Saturday during the market season, which started April 29 and ends Nov. 11.
“People will often come to the Farmers Market and then go on down to the other events,” she said. “The attendance is about normal the weekend of Arnold Days.”
A craft show will be held from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and may include up to 28 craft vendors.
“There are handmade crafts, homemade jewelry and many other things,” Kohut said.
The carnival rides will begin operating at noon and will remain open to 11 p.m. For the first time in four years, wristbands will be sold, allowing the wearer unlimited rides on Saturday. The wristbands cost $25 and may be used from noon to 4 p.m.
The afternoon has two acts new to Arnold Days. Joe Fingerhut, a comedian and magician, will perform from noon to 1 p.m., and Mad Science of St. Louis will perform experiments with help from selected audience members from 2-3 p.m.
Two contests will be held in the evening – the Children’s Cupcake-Eating Contest, which starts at 6 p.m. on the main stage, and the Grasp for Glory Contest – a water pitcher-holding contest which starts at 6:30 p.m.
The cupcake-eating contest is open to those 14 and younger, and the pitcher-holding contest is open to those 21 and older. Registration for both contests begins at 3 p.m. at the beer booth.
The winner of each contest will receive a $25 gift card to Walmart.
“The Children’s Cupcake-Eating Contest is a crowd favorite,” Hukic said. “The Grasp for Glory Contest is so much fun. If you think you are stronger than your buddies, you should sign up.”
Eli Algier and the Faster Horses, a country rock band from Iowa, is scheduled to perform from 7-11 p.m.
The fireworks and laser show will begin at about 9:30 p.m.
Sunday
The final day of the festival begins at noon with carnival rides and vendor and food booths opening at that time.
The annual Arnold Days Parade is set to begin at 1 p.m. at the Fox C-6 Service Center, 849 Jeffco Blvd., and will proceed north on Jeffco, ending at the park. The parade will feature floats and other entrants celebrating various reasons why Arnold is a good place to live.
Members of the Arnold Veterans Commission will be this year’s parade grand marshal, and the Fox and Seckman high school marching bands will perform during the parade.
The stretch of Jeffco Boulevard between the service center and park will be closed during the parade, starting at 12:30 p.m. and remaining closed until all participants have entered the park.
The Dirty Money band will perform from 2-6 p.m. on the main stage.
Logistics
Carnival ride tickets may be purchased in advance at the Arnold rec center. Advance tickets cost $20 for 10. Single tickets during Arnold Days cost $3 each.
ATMs will be available near the food vendors and carnival rides throughout the festival.
Free parking will be available in Arnold City Park from Friday through Sunday.
Coolers, alcohol, pop-up tents and glass bottles or containers are not allowed at the event.
Parks and Recreation Department Director Dave Crutchley said the city will spend about $75,000 on the three-day festival.
For more information about the festival, call the Arnold parks department at 636-282-2380.
