The 2011 Fair St. Louis event will expand to include three days of entertainment, it was announced within the hour. At a press conference at the Lafayette Square venue the St. Louis Palladium, the national headlining acts were revealed:
Saturday, July 2: The Steve Miller Band
Sunday, July 3: Maroon 5
Monday, July 4: Montgomery Gentry
In addition to the holiday-weekend events, it was announced that the Celebrate St. Louis Summer Concerts series will also return. Shows will be held July 15 and 16 and July 22 and 23.
(Diana Benanti filed the following report from the press conference...)
"We're letting people know early that Fair St. Louis is back," said Bob Schenk, spokesman of Fair St. Louis and the Veiled Prophet Organization, the "mysterious order" that's been hosting Fair St. Louis under its various eponyms for 134 years. "We're going to be on the Arch grounds for three days, and we've got some great talent coming to the banks of the Mississippi River for St. Louisians to enjoy." Schnek also noted that the air shows will be bigger and better than ever and as always, fireworks will round out the festivities each night.
"Based on the success of last year we've expanded to a third day, we're taking advantage of the weekend, with July 4th falling on that Monday," he says. "We've got some high energy groups; the Arch grounds is the place to be come early July."
Mayor Slay also spoke at the press conference, saying that the City of St. Louis continues to "proudly partner with the Fair St. Louis Foundation on this great St. Louis tradition that welcomes people from near and far to our historic Riverfront." Slay added that Fair St. Louis has contributed "millions of dollars in economic impact" through concession sales.
Schenk said they're announcing the line-up early to give St. Louisians the opportunity to invite out of town friends and family for the weekend. "'Hey, why don't you come to St. Louis and hear a couple days of great music and some entertainment and visit some of the other attractions here in town?'"
Schenk wouldn't say which band he's looking forward to the most. "You know, what I'm most excited to see is the tens of thousands of faces on the banks of the Mississippi, that's really where it makes all the advance work special. We get people together in a safe secure environment, we have a great time and we're able to promote our community and hear some great music for free and everybody can come out and enjoy it. It's only 115 days to July 2."
