👋 What’s Up Wentzville!
Good Morning!
If you were hoping for a quiet weekend, the local calendar has other plans.
This weekend brings a hometown fall festival, yard sales all over Wentzville, vintage shopping in St. Charles, telescopes pointed toward Saturn, The Marshall Tucker Band just up the road, and about 50 hot-air balloons taking over Forest Park.
So whether your weekend plans involve carnival rides, bargain hunting, live music, looking through a telescope, or watching giant glowing balloons after dark, you've got options.
And because some plans require a little more notice than Thursday morning, Plan Ahead has a few things worth putting on the calendar now.
Here's what's happening this week. 👇
📌 A Few Things to Know
🚧 Overnight Road Work in Wentzville
Beginning Friday, Schroeder Creek Boulevard and William Dierberg Drive will have intermittent overnight closures from approximately 8 PM–5:30 AM while crews make concrete slab repairs. The work is expected to continue through September 23, with detours using Great Oaks Boulevard and Wentzville Parkway.
In other words, if you're out late this weekend, don't assume your usual route is going to cooperate.
🏊 Progress Park Recreation Center Closing for Maintenance
Progress Park Recreation Center will be closed September 21–27 for annual facility maintenance.
If that's part of your regular workout or recreation routine, consider this your friendly reminder before you arrive Monday and discover that apparently everyone except you knew.
📅 Events Around Wentzville
Friday & Saturday, September 18–19
📍 St. Patrick Parish & School, 701 S. Church St., Wentzville
⏰ Friday 5–10:30 PM | Saturday 2–10 PM
One of Wentzville's big fall traditions returns this weekend with carnival rides and games, food, raffles, and live music both days.
On the Fence plays Friday night, while Saturday's music includes Buddy Entwistle followed by Isaac Mathews. The festival happens rain or shine, and free parking with shuttle service is available from the Wentzville Community Club.
One useful Thursday-morning note: September 17 is the final day to purchase advance two-day unlimited ride passes, so if carnival rides are a major part of your family's plan, today is the day to take care of that.
📍 Participating homes throughout Wentzville
⏰ Friday & Saturday; individual sale times vary
If your idea of a successful Saturday involves finding something you didn't know you needed for $3, this is your weekend.
Wentzville's citywide sale means garage and yard sales will be scattered throughout town Friday and Saturday. The city provides a Find-A-Sale listing to help shoppers map out their stops rather than simply driving around looking for suspicious clusters of folding tables.
Friday — Sunday, September 18–20
📍 St. Charles Convention Center, 1 Convention Center Plaza, St. Charles
⏰ Friday 10 AM–4 PM | Saturday 10 AM–4 PM | Sunday 10 AM–3 PM
Vintage Market Days brings a weekend of vintage and vintage-inspired shopping to St. Charles, with vendors offering antiques, original art, clothing, jewelry, handmade items, home décor, seasonal pieces, and food.
This one's particularly good for anyone who can look at an old cabinet and immediately envision what it could become with paint, new hardware, and considerably more ambition than the rest of us possess.
Children under 12 are admitted free.
Saturday, September 19
📍 Broemmelsiek Park Astronomy Viewing Area, 1615 Schwede Road, Wentzville
⏰ 4 - 9 PM
A reader tipped us off to this one, and it's a good one.
DobsonFest is a free, family-friendly astronomy festival featuring solar viewing, telescope displays, children's activities, astronomy demonstrations, and volunteers who can even help if you bring your own telescope.
As daylight fades, the focus turns upward for views of the Moon, Saturn, stars, and other objects through some serious telescopes.
There will also be free door-prize drawings from 4:30–7 PM, including telescopes, binoculars, astronomy books, and other prizes.
No registration is required.
📍 Main Street, Warrenton
⏰ Noon–9:30 PM
Warrenton's Fall Festival takes over Main Street Saturday with food, vendors, activities, and a full afternoon and evening of live music — all with free admission.
Rough Ryders start things off from noon–3 PM, Drew Cagle & The Reputation performs from 4–6:30 PM, and The Marshall Tucker Band headlines at 7:30 PM.
The city calls this one of Warrenton's largest annual events, and free shuttle service is available from Black Hawk Middle School.
If “Heard It in a Love Song” has now started playing in your head, you're welcome.
🚗 Worth the Drive
Great Forest Park Balloon Glow & Race
📍 Emerson Central Fields, Forest Park, St. Louis
⏰ Friday & Saturday, September 18–19
This is exactly the sort of event that earns the extra drive.
The 54th annual Great Forest Park Balloon Race brings roughly 50 hot-air balloons to Forest Park for two days of festivities — and admission is free.
Friday evening is the Balloon Glow, when the balloons remain on the ground and light up after dark. The glow runs approximately 6:45–8:45 PM, followed by a Golden Knights parachute performance and fireworks around 9:15 PM.
Saturday's activities begin at 1 PM, with another Golden Knights performance followed by the balloon launch beginning around 4:30–4:45 PM, weather permitting.
If you've never stood in Forest Park surrounded by enormous glowing hot-air balloons after dark, this may be a good weekend to fix that.
📅 Plan Ahead
A few things coming up that are worth knowing about before the Thursday immediately preceding them:
📍 Rotary Park, 2577 W. Meyer Road, Wentzville
⏰ Gates open at 6:30 PM | Movie around 7:45 PM
Wentzville's Badges & Bites combines food trucks and family activities with an outdoor showing of Zootopia 2.
The first 200 attendees receive free popcorn, so this is an easy one to put on the calendar now for a Friday night out with the family.
📍 Frontier Park, St. Charles
⏰ Friday 4–11 PM | Saturday 10 AM–11 PM | Sunday 10 AM–5 PM
The 40th annual St. Charles Oktoberfest takes over Frontier Park next weekend with three days of German food, live entertainment, vendors, activities, and plenty of Oktoberfest atmosphere.
If you're coordinating friends or making weekend plans, this one's worth getting on the calendar now.
Holt Volleyball Booster Trivia Night — October 3
📍 824 Lone Star Drive, O'Fallon
⏰ Doors open at 6 PM | Trivia starts at 7 PM
Start gathering your smartest friends: the Holt Volleyball Booster Club is hosting its inaugural Trivia Night on Saturday, October 3.
Tables of eight are $240, with beer, soda, and water included. You're welcome to bring your own food and drinks, too. The event is 21+, and all funds raised directly benefit the Holt volleyball program.
To reserve a table, Venmo @holtvolleyballboosters with your name for the table.
That should be enough to keep your calendar busy and your weekend interesting.
Know about a local event, fundraiser, festival, community update, or something happening around Wentzville that people should know about? Send it our way at [email protected]. Reader tips are especially helpful for the events that don't always show up in the usual calendars.
Have a great weekend!
See you next Thursday!