When Celebrate Saint Louis shared its first round of plans for this summer’s Celebrate 250 Independence Day event, general chair Jessica Fox offered few details about the headliners beyond a promise that big names would be performing under the Arch. Now, that promise has come to pass with the announcement of two nights of nationally recognized artists set to perform on the riverfront July 3 & 4.
Celebrate 250’s musical offerings will kick off on July 3 with a performance from Big Wild (a.k.a. Producer Jackson Stell). The electronic artist’s lush soundscapes will bring chill, fun vibes to start the weekend off right. Big Wild will be followed by award-winning musical artist and actor Ludacris, whose signature high-energy performance is almost sure to get folks ready to party. Friday night headliner Zedd will cap off the evening with his genre-bending electronic sounds and take the crowd straight into Celebrate Saint Louis’ themed and synchronized drone show.
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“Friday is definitely the party night,” Fox says. “If you want to come down for that high energy, it’s going to be really fantastic. The last two songs of Zedd’s set are going to correspond to the 1500-drone show and immediately go into the fireworks. You can just imagine the energy that’s going to be down at the Arch grounds on July 3.”
READ MORE: Celebrate Saint Louis announces plans for Celebrate 250 Fourth of July event
Saturday brings a chiller, more analog vibe to the stage under the Arch with Rebirth Brass Band paying homage to the sounds of New Orleans, Stephen Marley carrying the reggae torch forward, “King of the Movie Soundtrack” Kenny Loggins, and country powerhouse Miranda Lambert closing out the festivities.
“You can grab a corn dog, a funnel cake, hang out underneath the Arch and really have that chill vibe to be able to stay downtown from 3 or 4 in the afternoon all the way until fireworks are over a little after 10 p.m.,” Fox says. One of the goals, she says, is to make Celebrate 250 the kind of event that’s easy to enjoy all day. That’s one of the reasons this year’s parade is not in the morning as usual, but scheduled for the afternoon. “What we’re hoping for is that it really gives families and anybody that wants to come down an opportunity to say, ‘Hey, I can make a whole afternoon of this.”
And the event is, as always, free—from the immersive new experience and family activities all the way up to the night’s musical headliners.
“Especially in a year where gas prices are high and concert tickets are so expensive for folks, this is an opportunity for folks to come down and experience all of these amazing elements and hear more about all of the wonderful things that we’re doing here in the St. Louis area,” Fox says. “All of this is free for folks to attend. It’s, I think, one of the best things about our event here in St. Louis.”
