The Festus Tourism Commission awarded 22 grants totaling $292,654.98 in its latest round of grant giving on Nov. 3. Some of those grants were for new events to be held in the city.
Also at last week’s commission meeting, the group tabled a request for funds to help cover expenses for the 2026 WinterFest and will consider that grant during a video meeting in December.
Pat Parson, the commission chair, said she was pleased with the number of applications for commission grants.
“That is a high amount (of grants awarded). We got some new things,” she said. “We appreciate all the interest in putting on events in the city of Festus.”
Parson and fellow commission members Mike Cage, Rhonda Gerstner, Jeff Adams and Michelle Hohmeier attended the Nov. 13 meeting. It was the first commission meeting for Hohmeier, who replaced Rick Fischer, whose term expired.
Parson said the commission received grant requests for two new events to be held in Festus – a Gallentine’s Day Stroll and a Mardi Gras Day 2 – Pet Parade. A third event, the Juneteenth Homecoming, is not new, but this was the first time its organizers applied for and received a Tourism Commission grant to help put on the event.
For the first time, the commission awarded a $3,850 grant to Festus recreation and tourism director Barb Lowry on behalf of the city to help fund food trucks and music for event to be held next year at the new Turtle Cove at Lucas Field in Larry G. Crites Memorial Park. The facility includes an all-inclusive playground, which opened in September, and a splash pad section that will open in spring 2026, city officials said.
“The dates (for the Turtle Cove events) are to be determined, but it will be on weekends once a month. It will be DJ music. We will have multiple food trucks.”
Lowry also received a $7,800 grant on behalf of Festus for the Mardi Gras Day 2 – Pet Parade, scheduled for Feb. 15, 2026, the day after the 2026 Twin City Mardi Gras Parade & Celebration. The first Mardi Gras Parade for humans was held in March 2025 rolled along Main Street and drew large crowds, she noted.
“I am going to build on Luke Tetrault’s Mardi Gras Parade,” she said. “We’ll have food and craft vendors and pet-centered item vendors. It will follow the same parade route as the Tetrault parade.”
Tetrault, a member of the family that own’s Taytro’s restaurant and other businesses in Festus, received a commission grant for this year’s human Mardi Gras Parade, and the commission awarded him and Jen Wynn a $20,000 grant to hold a second human Mardi Gras Parade on Feb. 14, 2026.
Tricia Nelson, owner of the Main Street Creations shop in Festus, was awarded a $9,300 grant on behalf of the Festus Main Street Association for A Gallentine’s Day set for Feb. 7, 2026.
“It will be similar to Ladies Night (a Festus Main Street Association event focused on shopping each November) but will be in the day instead of at night,” Nelson said. “We’ll have live music and food trucks.”
The commission awarded a $2,250 grant to Tracy Johnson for the fifth annual Quad City Juneteenth Celebration scheduled for the weekend of June 19-21, 2026.
“We’ll use some of it for advertising, some for venues hosting the events,” said Johnson, one of the organizers.”
Also for the first time, the commission awarded a $20,000 grant to Festus City Administrator Greg Camp on behalf of the city to help pay overtime to employees from the police, street and parks departments for working special events.
The commission delayed a decision on Lowry’s request for the city’s 2026 WinterFest until it can analyze the attendance at the upcoming 2025 WinterFest scheduled for Dec. 6, Parson said.
The commission’s grants work on a reimbursement system, meaning that if a recipient does not use any of its grant funds, the funds stay with the commission.
Michelle Vaughn, the Festus finance director and Tourism Commission treasurer, reported that if all grant recipients claim all of the funds they have been awarded, the commission would still have $214,370.03 remaining to fund future requests.
The commission funds its grants with revenue from a 5 percent hotel-motel tax charged when people stay at the city’s hotels or motels.
The commission typically awards grants twice a year.
The following are other recipients from the commission’s latest round of grants:
■ $35,000 to Kirk Mooney on behalf of the Twin City Area Chamber of Commerce for Twin City Days in September 2026.
■ $25,000 to Lowry for the Twin City Firecracker Festival in June 2026. All the grants to Lowry are for events she organizes for the city of Festus.
■ $25,000 to Denny Foster on behalf of Main & Mill Brewing Co. for its StreetFest music festival set for Oct. 10, 2026, on Main Street.
■ $25,000 to Jason Portz on behalf of the George Portz Traditional Music Festival set for Sept. 26-27, 2026, at Crites Park.
■ $20,000 to Josh Caroll on behalf of the I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park in Pevely for its 2026 World of Outlaws events.
■ $16,000 to Vince Borgmann on behalf of Four Brothers Mead for the Sigurblot (Viking festival) scheduled for April 11, 2026.
■ $14,195.98 to Justin Lenhard for this year’s Lenhard Christmas Family Light Show to be held in December.
■ $13,000 to Lara Dane on behalf of the Festus Main Street Association for the Festus Art & Music Festival scheduled for May 2, 2026. The event has been held under various names in previous years.
■ $12,700 to Andrew Held on behalf of the Jefferson County Growth Association for the Bottleneck Bridge Ride scheduled for Aug. 16, 2026. The bike ride starts and ends in Festus.
■ $10,000 to Kim Rushing for Worship in the Park, a Christian music event scheduled for Sept. 12, 2026, in Crites Park.
■ $9,959 to Michael Christopher, the Festus public work’s director, to purchase a utility trailer to be used for special events in the city.
■ $9,900 to Courtney Wisely on behalf of the Spotlight Community Theatre group for its performances of the musical “Tick, Tick… Boom!” this weekend at the Contrarian Concert Hall & Theater in Festus.
■ $5,000 to Wisely on behalf of the Spotlight Community Theatre for its performances of a youth musical it will present in March 2026.
■ $4,400 to Tricia Nelson, who along with Amy Wilson are the new Festus Farmers Market co-masters, for the 2026 Festus Farmers Market.
■ $3,250 to Lowry on behalf of the city for Movies in the Park in summer 2026 at Crites Park.
■ $1,050 to Lowry on behalf of the city for Camp Crites scheduled for Nov. 7, 2026, at Crites Park.