There are always great sights and activities for kids at the Great Forest Park Balloon Race. This year, the event will be held Friday and Saturday, Sept. 20-21.

This will be the 30th annual race. The event has become the nation's largest hot-air balloon event held inside a city.

Friday's main activity is the "balloon glow" at dusk. That's when all the balloons inflate and the hot-air gas burners make the balloons glow at sunset. The "glow" will be from 7-9 p.m.

The Saturday activities start at noon with opening of the Purina Puppy Chow Children's area. There are games and other activities for younger kids. Later, the Monsanto Youth Stage opens for performances.

The race gets underway about 4 p.m. when the Energizer Bunny hot-air "chase" balloon takes off. Seventy balloons are entered in this year's event. The object of the race is to see which balloon can come closest to matching the flight of the Energizer balloon.

For detailed information about the Forest Park weekend, you can listen to a recorded message at (314) 993-0407.

 

Dog museum has weekly events on Sundays

For kids who love dogs, the St. Louis Dog Museum offers something new every Sunday. Each week, a different dog breed is featured.

Most Sunday events are from 1 to 4 p.m., unless otherwise noted. They are at the American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog in Queeny Park, in western St. Louis County.

Here's the schedule of Sunday events for September and October. (Open dates mean the dog to be honored hasn't been selected as yet. Just call the museum a few days ahead of the event for final details. The number is (314) 821-3647.)

• Sunday, Sept. 8: open
• Sunday, Sept. 15: English setters
• Sunday, Sept. 22: Great Dane Rescue
• Sunday, Sept. 29: Chinese Shar-Pei
• Sunday, Oct. 6: Eskimo
• Sunday, Oct. 13: Siberian Husky
• Sunday, Oct. 20: The 10th annual Pug Party
• Sunday, Oct. 27: open

The 10th annual Pug Party is a special event featuring 200 pugs in a parade and in costume.

Every Sunday event has a variety of activities centered around the breed-of-the-week. These can include obedience and agility demonstrations and panel discussions. Kids get a chance to see the dogs up close.