Arnold Days organizers say this year’s event will be the most extravagant in the event’s history.
All this year, Arnold has been commemorating the 50th anniversary of its incorporation as a city in 1972, and that celebration will culminate during the three-day Arnold Days festival set for Friday through Sunday, Sept. 16-18.
“This is the exclamation point on the year,” Arnold Parks and Recreation Director Dave Crutchley said.
Most of the Arnold Days festivities will be held at Arnold City Park on Bradley Beach Road off Jeffco Boulevard near the Meramec River.
The event will include live music all three days, firework displays on Friday and Saturday nights, the annual Arnold Days Parade on Sunday and a bevy of returning attractions mixed in with some new ones.
“We want this to be extra special for the community and reflective of the last 50 years,” said Teresa Kohut, superintendent for the Parks and Recreation Department.
Friday
Activities are scheduled to begin at the park at 5 p.m. and wrap up at 11 p.m., with Little Egypt operating 16 carnival rides and 22 vendors selling wares, including 10 food vendors, organizers said.
“One thing I love about (Little Egypt) is they take really good care of their rides, and they always look great,” Kohut said. “They have a really good safety record.”
Carnival ride tickets cost $3 each. Discounted tickets are still available until 4 p.m. Friday at the Arnold Recreation Center, 1695 Missouri State Road, with 10 tickets available for $20.
Also on Friday a Bubble Extravaganza will run from 5:30-7 p.m. between the Pecan and Bandstand pavilions. The Platinum Rock Legends band will perform from 7-11 p.m., and the new Cosmic Dance Tent over the former tennis courts will open near dusk until 9:30 p.m., when the fireworks and laser show is scheduled to start over the park’s lake.
“(The dance tent) will have lights and a disco feel to it,” Kohut said.
Saturday
A full day of activities will be held in the park on Saturday, starting with the children’s fishing tournament, sponsored by the Arnold-Imperial Optimist Club, as well as the Arnold’s Farmers Market and the Arnold Police Officers Association’s Car and Bike Show.
Registration for the fishing tournament is free and starts at 7 a.m. at the Pecan Pavilion. The fishing contest starts at 8 a.m. and ends at 11 a.m.
“My favorite part of the fishing tournament is seeing a kid catch a fish for the first time,” Kohut said.
The car show registration begins at 8 a.m. with judging starting at noon and prize winners being announced at 4 p.m.
“If the weather is good, it should be huge,” Crutchley said.
The Farmers Market, which is located near the park’s entrance, is open from 8 a.m. until noon. Kohut said more than 50 vendors will be at the market, which has drawn about 2,000 customers each Saturday this season, which began May 7 and runs through Oct. 22.
“We have had some record attendance this year,” she said.
The Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast also returns this year after being on hiatus since the city canceled Arnold Days in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The breakfast will be held at 8 a.m. Saturday in the First Baptist Church of Arnold’s Banquet Center, 2012 Missouri State Road. It is sponsored by the Arnold Rotary Club and First Baptist Church of Arnold.
Seating is limited to 200 people. Call 636-492-2772 for ticket availability.
“I think the mayor (Ron Counts) is very excited about having that back,” Kohut said.
At 10 a.m., a craft show will open under the large tent, where the previous night’s cosmic dance was set up. Other vendors also will start operating at that time.
The St. Louis Longbeards, a chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, will offer free children’s activities from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Bandstand Pavilion.
Carnival rides will reopen at noon Saturday, which also is the time a new feature will make its Arnold Days debut.
Stunt Dudes, a BMX bike stunt group, is scheduled to put on four 45-minute shows starting at noon, 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. in the parking lot near the park playground.
“I’m really excited for it,” recreation supervisor Pat Aubuchon said. “When I watched stuff like that growing up, it was an adrenaline rush.”
The Bubble Extravaganza will return for a second day, running from 1:30-2:30 p.m.
A caricature artist and face painter will be on hand from 1-8 p.m. near the city’s merchandise booth. The artists also will be at the festival from 3-7 p.m. Sunday.
Kohut said tickets for caricatures will cost $5 and tickets for face painting $3. The tickets will be sold at Arnold’s merchandise booth.
Starting at 6 p.m., contests will be held on the main stage.
A children’s cupcake-eating contest will start at about 6 p.m., with participants competing to eat a single cupcake the quickest.
At 6:15 p.m., an adult hot-dog eating contest will be held with participants trying to eat the most hot dogs.
At 6:30 p.m., a pitcher-holding contest called “Grasp for Glory” will be held for those 21 and older. For that contest, participants will compete to hold a pitcher full of water the longest.
“I think people enjoy it,” Kohut said of the free competitions. “With the kids contest, we nearly max out the 60 spots available. They are growing in popularity.”
At 7 p.m., the evening will begin winding down with a performance from Bitter Pill, followed by a special announcement and then the fireworks and laser show, which is scheduled to start at about 9:30 p.m.
“People will need to be in the park to truly enjoy the (fireworks) show,” Kohut said. “It is kind of an up-close and personal show. We will have a laser show incorporate with the fireworks. That is something we have never done before. The fireworks will go off to choreographed music.”
Kohut said the winners of the City of Arnold 50th Anniversary Water Tower Palooza Scavenger Hunt will be announced at about 9:15 p.m.
On May 2, the Arnold Parks and Recreation Department unveiled clues related to the whereabouts of 10 water tower statues that were placed throughout the city as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations. Various artists had painted the statues before they were scattered around Arnold.
Scavenger hunt participants were encouraged to take photos with each of the towers and post them in the comment section on the Parks and Recreation Departments’ Facebook announcements about the clues to the 10 locations.
Republic Services donated the money for the prizes – $1,000 for first place, $750 for second place and $500 for third.
“You don’t have to be there to win a prize,” Kohut said.
Sunday
The festival resumes at noon Sunday with carnival rides and vendors. Also, a cornhole tournament will start at that time.
Teams of two may enter the cornhole tournament, which is organized by Bullie Bags of St. Louis. Entry in the tournament costs $40. Aubuchon said the number of winners and size of awards will be based on how many teams participate, with 80 percent of the entry fees going to the winning teams.
“There has been a lot of interest in the tournament,” he said. “People can register the day of the tournament.”
The Arnold Days Parade will start at 1 p.m. at the Fox C-6 Service Center, 849 Jeffco Blvd., and end at the park. The parade will feature floats and other entrants celebrating the city’s 50th anniversary.
“We hope to have up to 125 participants,” said Karen Fay, procurement and maintenance coordinator for the parks department.
A $100 prize will be awarded to the best entry in the parade.
The parade grand marshals will be a group of residents from each of the city’s four wards. City Council members nominated all the residents who will be grand marshals.
Both 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. Sunday on the main stage.
In addition, the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show, which will feature ax-throwing, log rolling and other lumberjack skills, will be at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
“We have never had (the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show),” Kohut said. “We are very excited about it.”
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.
Crutchley said the city will spend about $125,000 on the three-day festival. About $25,000 of that will be for the fireworks shows, which is approximately $5,000 more than usual, because of inflation and because the laser feature and additional fireworks were added for the anniversary celebration.
For more information about the upcoming Arnold Days Festival, call the Arnold parks department at 636-282-2380.