Fair St. Louis’ home sweet home: downtown or riverfront
Officials behind Fair St. Louis/Live on the Levee have a huge decision on their hands.
They must figure out which locale is best for the summer events that this year brought Black Crowes, Joss Stone, and Anthony Hamilton to town.
Flooding caused the annual events to move from their usual scenic perch on the riverfront to what was meant to be a temporary location downtown at Soldier’s Memorial Plaza, turning Live On the Levee into Live Off the Levee.
Now that the dust has cleared and the water has receded, organizers are deciding whether to return to the riverfront next summer or stay downtown.
Let’s look at this for a second.
Nothing beats a Live On the Levee concert, sitting near the base of the Arch with the river serving as a backdrop to one of your favorite performers. That ambiance, complete with fireworks, is nothing short of killer. But if the performer is especially popular, Live On the Levee is a logistical nightmare in terms of parking and just getting around.
Then there’s Soldier’s Memorial Plaza. It’s home to a number of other summer events, which makes it feel less than special. But there’s room for growth, and that appeals to the organizers.
Where do you think Fair St. Louis and Live On the Levee should take place next year?
Photo: Fireworks explode over the Mississippi River July 4 during Fair St. Louis
Photo credit: Emil Rasinski
Kevin C. Johnson has covered the St. Louis' music and nightlife scene for the past decade. 
I like the riverfront for fireworks with the reflection off the Gateway Arch, but Soldier’s Memorial Plaza TV screens gave a better view of the artist performing.
move it back to the arch please! much easier to actually watch the shows from the arch steps. things were much more spread out on the riverfront as well. all the beer was in one place at the memorial and like many others said, it took FOREVER to get one. (the record sales were probably to the already drunk high school kids that for some reason flooded the O.A.R. show and were SOOO annoying.) it’s hard to complain much about a free show with such quality acts but if our opinion matters i’d much rather see it at the arch/riverfront.
I would like to see it come back to the arch. I don’t live in St. Louis, but I attend the weekend Cards’ home games. We usually stay at a hotel within walking distance to the stadium, so the walk to Soldiers Memorial appeared to be too far. I wasn’t really sure how to get there, so we didn’t try. We did go to the arch grounds and watch the fireworks though. Last summer I went to several of the concerts because they were within easy walking distance, and I knew I wouldn’t get lost walking around your big city.
By far the best place in St. Louis to have free concerts is the riverfront. Under the Arch with the river in the background is the best. The Arch steps make a great place to sit with a fantastic view and great sound. Fireworks reflecting off the skin of the Arch. Why would you want to have it anywhere else if you didn’t have too.
It was way better at Soldiers Memorial. I stopped going to Live On The Levee because the traffic was brutal trying to get home after the show. It’s the same reason that I stopped going to the Riverport venue. Too much traffic and too few people directing it.
On the riverfront. The river and the Arch are part of this city’s heritage. As it is, the city doesn’t take enough advantage of that area in order to attact more year round visitors.
As for issues related to cars and parking: why on earth are you folks not taking the Metro?
Well I was supposed to be sitting in VIP during one of the concerts this summer but my party left me LOL. JOKE! I felt trapped at Soldiers Memorial. To many fences, felt like one way in and one way out! Parking on the other hand seemed much better for folks who dont live downtown. More elbow room at Soldiers Memorial………………more STUMBLIN and BUMBLIN under the Arch. Dispite the STUMBLIN and BUMBLIN I say move it back to the Arch nicer atmospher
I would like to see this on the river front in St Charles on the Missouri River
I have to agree w/Brian on the air shows. Now that there’s no air show in Chesterfield, it’s time to bring it back as part of the Levee. AND afternoon concerts. It kept people on the Arch grounds all day during the fair, not just a few hours.
To the people complaining about parking, grow some legs and walk a little. I’m sure you walk all over the lot at Verizon Ampitheatre or at least 3 blocks for Cardinal games. Does anyone else remember when Verizon was “Riverport”? It wasn’t even paved, you walked forever on GRAVEL for an outdoor show that you PAID A LOT for. AND you paid to park. Imagine how far those people walk in DC for their 4th of July? Those parks surrounding the monuments are HUGE.
One last comment about the traffic. Don’t forget that the Hwy 40/64 project will move into the 2nd phase during next year’s event, closer to the immediate city. It won’t be so smooth to get in and out next year if you’re taking 40.
I think the ambiance and views of stage are better when they perform on the levee. I think either location has parking issues. I feel on the riverfront is better though.