Twin City Days chairman Kirk Mooney said it would be difficult to top this year’s festival, which had thousands of people taking part in the activities held at various venues in Crystal City and Festus.
Grant Austermann, 8, of Festus climbs an inflatable rock wall at the First Baptist Church of Festus-Crystal City.
Most of the 2024 Twin City Days event took place between Sept. 5 and Sept. 8, with some activities held before and after those dates.
Mooney said there was good attendance at all the Twin City Days activities.
On Sept. 7, for instance, people packed Main Street in Festus and Bailey Road in Crystal City, which were closed to traffic for shopping at dozens of vendor booths and the festival’s car show, he said.
“This was by far one of the best attendances we’ve had for sure,” he said. “Attendance is hard to gauge because people come and go, but there were 8,000 to 10,000 people (Sept. 7) alone on Main Street and Bailey Road.”
Mooney said the clear skies and mild temperatures undoubtedly convinced more people than ever to participate in the merriment.
“Mother Nature came through,” he said.
Activities included the annual Red Bird Hunt contest that began Sept. 3 and called for participants to follow clues aired on KJFF Radio (1400 AM) to find the bird. Kathy and Anthony Masterson, Festus, located it and won Cardinals game tickets, the radio station reported.
The U.S. Senior Pickleball Midwest Regional Championships and Twin City Invitational ran from Sept. 5-8 at Jokerst Memorial Park in Festus.
“This is the second-oldest continuous tournament in the state of Missouri,” organizer Jim Berger said. “It has been underwritten by Midwest Regional Bank for the last three years, with ancillary support from the Festus Tourism Commission. Seven states were represented and several hundred spectators were on hand for the four-day event.”
Zavier Smith, 6, of Festus fishes at the Hooked On Fishing event at the Conservation Club.
Other activities included a free breakfast at Larry G. Crites Memorial Park in Festus; free bowling at Quonset Lanes in Crystal City; live music; a 5K run-walk; cornhole, washers and basketball tournaments; food trucks and vendor booths in downtown Crystal City and Festus; a book sale at the Festus Library; children’s activities and more.
A new event, a Sidewalk Chalk Drawing Contest, was held Sept. 7 at Crystal City Park.
Crystal City hosted the “Blues on the Bricks” Cobblestone Celebration on Mississippi Avenue on Sept. 6 featuring performers David Kalz and Greg Hulub, followed by the headliner, the Anthology band.
On Sept. 7, Joe Dirt and the Dirty Boys Band played at Larry G. Crites Memorial Park.
Crystal City Mayor Mike Oshia won the annual Twin City Days Mayors’ Challenge on Sept. 5 at Crites Park, beating Festus Mayor Sam Richards in a Nerf gun shooting contest.
Kaia Neel, 10 months, of Festus participates in the baby crawling contest at Crystal City Park.
Twin City Toyota in Herculaneum put on its annual Hot Wheels Races for the 15th time. For that event, youngsters raced Hot Wheels toy cars to win prizes in two age brackets, ages 3-7 (with Caleb Neal, 4, of Cedar Hill winning) and 8-15 (with Avari Koenig, 9, of Hillsboro winning).
“This was by far the biggest turnout to the event ever,” said Dave Steinbach, Twin City Toyota new vehicle sales manager. “We had 145 children, plus their family members, here at the store. We collected an entry fee of two canned goods per racer to be donated to the Ozark Food Pantry.”
The Twin City Area Chamber of Commerce organizes the festival, and planning is already underway for the next one, set for Sept. 4-6, 2025, Mooney said.
“We never stop planning,” he said. “We’re already working for next year, which will be the 30th anniversary of Twin City Days.”
View pictures from the event here: