Places to Go, Things to Do

Lots of Labor Day activities and more

Although schools have restarted, there's still the flurry of Labor Day weekend activities that provide lots of fun Things to Do; Places to Go for local kids and their families.

And, a lot of the events and activities are free.

Of course, we're also on the lookout fun things during the rest of September. And Young Saint Louis.com gives you a list of some of those as well.

(Each month, YSL.com surveys a lot of calendars to check out upcoming events and activities which might appeal to young kids and their families. Whenever possible, we try to find neat things to do that don't charge admission.)

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day Parade

The big Labor Day Parade will be held in downtown St. Louis on Monday, Sept. 7. The start time is 9 a.m.

For information, call (314) 847-6336.

33rd Japanese Festival

The 33rd annual Japanese Festival will be held Saturday through Monday, Sept. 5-7, at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Admission for kids 7 through 12 is $5.

Hours are: Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Monday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For information, call (314) 577-9400 or visit www.mobot.org.

There will tours of the Japanese gardens. There are special art displays, tea ceremonies, kimono demonstrations and arts and crafts. Also, there will be traditional music and dancing along with martial arts and theater.

Also, there will be traditional cooking and other fun activities.

Big Muddy Blues Festival

The Big Muddy Blues Festival will be held Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 5-6, in the Laclede Landing entertainment district. Hours are 3 to 11 p.m. each day.

Admission is free.

Nearly two dozen musical groups will perform on five different stages. The musicians are national, regional and local.

For information, call (314) 241-5875 or visit www.lacledeslanding.com.

Tour of Missouri Bike Race

The first day of the 3rd annual Tour of Missouri Bike Race will be in downtown St. Louis on Monday, Sept. 7.

This year, the Tour of Missouri will start in St. Louis and finish a week later in Kansas City. Previously, the races started in Kansas City and ended in St. Louis.

(For complete information, see the separate story on the home page of this edition.)

Other September events:

16th annual St. Louis Art Fair

The 16th annual St. Louis Art Fair will be held Friday through Sunday, Sept. 11-13, in downtown Clayton. Hours are 5 through 10 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Admission is free. There will be three stages for entertainment as well as hands on activities for kids. Food from area restaurants will be available.

For information, call (314) 863-0278 or visit www.saintlouisartfair.com.

26th annual Great Fire Engine Rally

The 26th annual Great Fire Engine Rally will be held Saturday, Sept.12, in downtown St. Louis. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a parade starting at 10 a.m.

Admission is free.

The parade will feature 150 fire vehicles. There will be a kiddies' town and also fireman challenge activities.

For information, call (314) 487-9154 or visit www.greatfirerally.com

St. Louis Symphony Free Concert

The St. Louis Symphony's Forest park Concert will be Thursday, Sept. 17, starting at 7 p.m. The concert will be on Art Hill in front of the Art Museum.

Admission is free.

For information, visit www.slso.org.

Great Forest Park Balloon Glow and Race

The Great Forest Park Balloon Glow and Race will be held on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 18-19. Admission is free both days.

The glow will be 7-8;45 p.m. on Friday with fireworks at 9 p.m. The race activities are from noon to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.

For information, call (314) 993-2901 or visit www.greatforestparkballoonrace.com

Lewis and Clark Music Festival

The Lewis & Clark Music Festival will be held Saturday, Sept. 12, at the Lewis & Clark State Historic Site in Hartford, IL.

You'll be able to watch, listen and even participate with musicians on fiddles, dulcimers and flutes as they perform traditional music from the late 1700s and early 1800s.

For information, visit www.confluencegreenway.org.

ParkPalooza @ Gateway Arch

Another Confluence Greenway program will be the ParkPalooza@GatewayArch on Saturday, Sept. 12.

The festival will include a variety of outdoor recreation, including historic New Orleans jazz, walks along the Mississippi River Trail as well as art exhibits and performances.

For information, visit www.confluencegreenway.org.

Harvesting Nature

You can learn about native Missouri wild foods that can be harvested from the woods and fields at a class, Harvesting Nature, at the Columbia Bottoms Conservation Area in northeast St. Louis County.

The event is Friday, Sept. 18, for kids 10 and up.

You'll learn about medicinal plants, common yard edibles, mushrooms, nuts and berries. You'll get a booklet of recipes.

For information, directions and reservations, call (314) 877-6014.

Discover Nature: Surviving the Night

If you want to find out what it takes to do overnight camping, you can attend a Discover Nature program at the Busch Outdoor Education Center in St. Charles County. The event, titled "Surviving the Night," will be Thursday, Sept. 17.

Hours are 6 - 9 p.m. and the meeting is open to kids 8 and up when with a parent or other adult.

You'll learn what you need to know and the tools you need to make it through 24 hours in the woods by yourself.

For information and reservations, call (636) 441-4554. Or you can visit www.mdc.mo.gov/areas/ranges/busch.

GO! Fish activities

During September, the Missouri Department of Conservation will hold a variety of Go!Fish programs to help you learn more about fishing in Missouri.

The programs are held at Belle Fountaine Conservation Area, Busch CA, Suson Park and Forest Park.

For details of meetings at various parks, visit www.mdc.mo.gov/13100.