Perhaps more than anything else, Gateway Arch Park Foundation is most known to St. Louisans as the host of two of the biggest, non-sports-related annual events in Downtown St. Louis: Blues at the Arch and Winterfest.

These two signature events bring tens of thousands of people to Gateway Arch National Park and Kiener Plaza each year. They also support dozens of local businesses, artists and entrepreneurs and bring ample economic activity to Downtown.

Blues at the Arch Festival

Together with the National Blues Museum and National Park Service, the Foundation produces an annual large-scale music festival in the park’s North Gateway, featuring top national and regional blues talent.

This event is totally free, inviting the community to enjoy live music and celebrate St. Louis’ heritage as a blues city. 

In previous years, Blues at the Arch was a weekly August concert series, but in 2022 (after two years of virtual concerts due to the pandemic), we reimagined it as a weekend-long Festival, making it possible to engage even more renowned blues musicians and burgeoning its ability to serve as a destination for out-of-town travelers. In 2023, we welcomed over 12,000 attendees to the park, including Friday and Saturday concerts in addition to Sunday’s bonus Blues Brunch event next door at Laclede’s Landing.

We hope to continue to build the Festival’s reputation as one of St. Louis’ premier music festivals – and the only free festival of its kind to take place on national park grounds. Mark your calendars for our ninth annual Blues at the Arch Festival: Aug. 9-11, 2024!

Foundation members at the Supporter level and above are invited to enjoy dinner in the Member & Sponsor Tent on opening night, August 9. Become a Member at the Supporter level and enjoy the perk!

Winterfest

Gateway Arch Park Foundation is also proud to have hosted eight years of Winterfest, presented by Bank of America and World Wide Technology. 

Winterfest is a six-weekend-long event in Kiener Plaza inviting St. Louisans to ice skate in the shadow of the Gateway Arch surrounded by 100,000 twinkling lights and enjoy the holiday merriment. Winterfest also includes s’mores stations, igloo rentals, visits from princesses and superheroes, free ice skating and hockey lessons, New Year’s Eve fireworks, special guest appearances and much more.

In 2021, we also introduced the Winterfest 5K to kick off the Winterfest season. The Winterfest 5K is now in its fourth year and is the only official run/walk of its kind that routes through the beautiful Arch grounds and supports the park. It doesn’t get more “St. Louis” than this!

In 2023, Winterfest reached another milestone and welcomed more than 65,000 visitors to Downtown St. Louis over 23 days, a 70% increase over 2022 and more than doubling attendance from 2021. More than 300 runners participated in the Winterfest 5k, an increase of 44% over 2022.

Last year’s Winterfest kicked off with the Ameren Missouri Festival of Lights, featuring free ice skating, courtesy of Ameren, live performances, vendor booths, and a magical fireworks finale. Over 17,000 visitors attended Opening Day, more than doubling the attendance of 2022. Learn more about 2023’s Winterfest.

Join us for 2024's Winterfest 5K and Winterfest Opening Day on Saturday, Nov. 23, and be sure to stick around for the full Winterfest season, open through Dec. 31 (Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, plus a bonus holiday week).

Foundation members are invited to skate for free the day before Winterfest opens to the public, on Friday, Nov. 17: become a member and enjoy the perk!