Celebrate Saint Louis is out with its full lineup for Celebrate 250, a two-day kickoff to America's 250th birthday set for July 3-4 on the downtown riverfront beneath the Gateway Arch.
Friday's lineup will feature Zedd, Ludacris and Big Wild, with the Grammy-winning DJ closing the night ahead of a synchronized 1,500-drone show and fireworks. Saturday's bill includes Miranda Lambert, Kenny Loggins, Bob's son Stephen Marley, and the Rebirth Brass Band.
Beyond the music, the free event will include America's Birthday Parade, a Salute the Troops ceremony, a family fun zone with food vendors and games, and a new walk-through Innovation Experience highlighting St. Louis institutions working in space, aviation and geospatial, biotechnology, conservation, consumer products, and higher education.
Fireworks, previously ranked by USA Today among the nation's top 10 displays, will close both nights over the Mississippi River.
KMOX's Michael Calhoun with Jessica Fox, general chair for Celebrate Saint Louis
Q: It seems like this is bigger than it's been in the last several years. It's kind of giving me 2010s vibes with the big-name musical lineup. Can you peel back the curtain a little bit and talk about how you approached this year and what you wanted to do?
A: Absolutely, and nail on the head. It is certainly bigger this year, especially in comparison to our last couple of years. Prior to this year, we had been doing our event down on the landing on Leonor K. Sullivan.
What I would say for preparation for this particular year is, you know, it's America's 250. It's a big milestone for the country, and Missouri and St. Louis have played a lot of fantastic roles in that history. We knew that we wanted to make a big splash in the St. Louis region and in the Midwest in order to celebrate America's 250, but we also wanted to make sure that we weren't just anchoring ourselves in the past — we were also looking forward to the future.
That's why you do see some new activations and new things that we're bringing into the celebration on July 3rd and 4th, for example our Innovation Experience, which will be immersive and expands our footprint beyond just the Arch grounds. It's an opportunity for us to highlight several of the organizations in St. Louis that are doing amazing innovative things in fields like aviation and geospatial and biosciences.
There was a lot of thought that went into how do we, one, make sure that we're really positioning St. Louis on the map for what is an amazing milestone for America, and two, how are we positioning what we're doing here in St. Louis to not just be focused on the past, but also to look forward to the future.
Q: As a kid and then as a young adult working at One Memorial Drive at KMOX's old building, I used to love walking through the flags that had all the corporate titans of St. Louis on them. Is there renewed corporate support and interest these days?
A: Absolutely. We've had, I would say, overwhelming support on the city, state and federal level, as well as through our traditional sponsorship channels, which really is leveraging several of the really great corporations within the St. Louis area.
You really hit on something that I always love to make sure folks know or think about: while the event is free for people to attend, it is certainly not free for us to produce. There's so much gratitude that goes out to all of the city, state and federal help and support that we're getting, as well as our sponsors who have really come to the table in a way that we have not seen, I would say, probably in a decade plus.
Q: When it comes to America 250 and the greater significance this year, how do you expect the crowds and the interest from the community to be different than it's been? Especially post-pandemic, I think people's habits in terms of big festivals had changed. Is this kind of perhaps a reset year with all that?
A: I think it absolutely is a reset year. We're anticipating that we're going to see crowd sizes that we saw in 2016, 2017, even potentially bigger. I do believe that it is going to be a reset year for us.
The fact that we're back under the Arch on that amazing Arch grounds is going to be an even bigger opportunity for that reset.
More information is at: celebratesaintlouis.org.
Chair Jessica Fox points to renewed corporate sponsorship and government support behind the July 3-4 event
Chair Jessica Fox points to renewed corporate sponsorship and government support behind the July 3-4 event
