Photo courtesy of Flickr / Chris Yunker
Shakespeare Festival St. Louis in Forest Park.
On Wednesday, the website featured "7 Cities With Hidden Cultural Gems." Among them was none other than St. Louis.
"Everyone knows about the magnificent Gateway Arch, but how about the Grand Center Arts District for a different type of dazzle?" writes Brittany Hodak asks. "St. Louis is slowly building a reputation as a mecca for the visual arts, but the performing arts scene is already hot along the banks of the Mississippi River."
HuffPost then gives shout-outs to the Muny, Fabulous Fox and Citygarden, as well as events including the Japanese Festival, Festival of Nations, the Shakespeare Festival St. Louis and even the Strange Folk Festival. The post also nods to our summer blues and jazz concerts, the Missouri History Museum, the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Magic House. Sure, these places aren't exactly "hidden" to us — but who doesn't love when they receive national attention?
Written by New Yorker who moved to Tennessee, the post could have easily become a tale of "Here is the Culture You Can Settle for if You Don't Live in New York." But Hodak fully acknowledges that the Big Apple isn't the only place offering quality doses of culture — and her post features other underappreciated cities, including including Portland, Maine; Ashland, Oregon; Franklin, Tennessee; Leavenworth, Washington; Cleveland and Santa Fe.
You can read the HuffPost story in its entirety here.
