ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - For the first time since 2019, spectators will be welcomed back to watch the Great Forest Park Balloon Race (GFPBR) later this year. The 49th annual event will return on Sept. 17-18 at the Emerson Central Field of Forest Park.
The two-day event, which is free for anyone to attend, begins with the Balloon Glow on Friday night at 5 p.m. There will be live music, food trucks, concessions and other activities. There will also be a firework finale at 9:15 p.m.
The next day, nearly 70 hot air balloons launch from Central Fields and fly across the St. Louis skyline. It begins at noon.
Last year the event was put on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of a gathering in Forest Park there was a "Lift Up St. Louis" event in which dozens of hot air balloons still took to the greater St. Louis-area sky to honor essential workers.
The event will follow the lead of city and state officials, as well as the sanitization guidelines and protocols established by the CDC and local agencies. Extra hand sanitizing stations, additional picnic areas and cashless/touchless payment systems are just a few of the measures the GFPBR team is adopting to help ensure the safest, healthiest and most patron-friendly event possible.
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