The weekend events guide for St. Louis from Thursday, September 24th through Sunday, September 27th, 2015.

Taco-Rita Showdown: Enjoy taco tastings and margarita samplings from the six favorite local taco joints: Gringo, Seoul Taco, Mission Taco Joint, Atomic Cowboy, Amigos Cantina, and Taco Circus. Vote for your favorites in each category. Also, enjoy music from Lliam Christy! Admission is $15 and includes a sample of each taco and margarita.

Date: Sept 24
Time: 6pm
Place: 3651 Olive St

4th Annual St. Louis Folk & Roots Festival: St. Louis’ premier folk festival featuring musicians spanning the many styles that comprise Folk Music. The festival includes players performing old-time, bluegrass, country, and blues as well as workshops, a square dance, and the Folk School Fiddle contest. Performers include: Sam Bush Band, The Accomplices, Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton, The Tillers, and many more. Purchase a festival pass for $60 to see all concerts or purchase individual performance passes separately.

Date: Sept 24-27
Time: Thurs: 7:30pm, Fri: 8pm, Sat: 10am, Sun: 12pm
Place: Sheldon Concert Hall, KDHX & Folk School of KDHX

Scottish Games & Cultural Festival: A cultural awareness event packed with fun learning and interactive festivities. More than 150 highland athletes from around the world will come together to enjoy bagpipes, celtic rock and folk music by Cleghorn, John Taylor, Plaid To The Bones, The Wee Heavies, Duddy Breeks, and more, Scottish food, drink, and crafts. Plus Highland dancing, sheep dog demonstrations, Medieval Knight Sword Fights, birds of prey, and The Parade of Tartans. The opening Torchlight Ceremony (“Calling of the Clans”) where each Clan will send one representative wearing tartan, is Friday at 6:30pm. Adult weekend passes are $20, children $10, or you can purchase day passes.

Date: Sept 25 & 26
Time: Fri: 3pm, Sat: 8:30am
Place: Spirit Airpark W Dr, Chesterfield

Style In The Loop: The 5th annual event which kicks off with a runway show featuring local fashion designers and Loop boutique fashion lines. Enjoy cocktails and entertainment before the show. Admission is free so come early to grab a seat. On Saturday, head out to the The Loop to enjoy sidewalk sales, live window displays, featured designer meet & greets, and more.

Date: Sept 25 & 26
Time: Fri: 6pm, Sat: all day
Place: The Tivoli-6350 Delmar Blvd

Oktoberfests: There are 3 different Oktoberfests happening this weekend. Two downtown and 1 in St. Charles. Click the links to find out more about what each one has in store for you. Maybe you can do an Oktoberfest crawl and work all of them in one day, or go to 1 each day of the weekend…that’s a lot of beer drinking.

Anheuser Busch
Date: Sept 25-27
Time: Fri: 5-10pm, Sat: 1-10pm, Sun: 12-5pm
Place: Busch Biergarten-12th & Lynch

Urban Chestnut
Date: Sept 25-27
Time: Fri: 6-11pm, Sat: 11am-11pm, Sun: 12-7pm
Place: Urban Chestnut-3229 Washington Ave

St. Charles
Date: Sept 25-27
Time: Fri: 4-11pm, Sat: 10am-11pm, Sun: 10am-5pm
Place: Frontier Park

Q in The Lou: A celebration of great BBQ with cooking tutorials, contests, live music including Well Hungarians, Cree Rider Band, Oh Brother, Whiskey Morning, and more. Taste delicious barbecue from 9 legendary pit masters including Mike Emerson from Pappy’s, Mike Johnson from Sugarfire Smokehouse, Carey Bringle from Peg Leg Porker in Nashville, Scott Roberts from Salt Lick BBQ in Texas, and more. Go VIP for $75 and meet the pitmasters, skip the line, and enjoy an open bar and private tents.

Date: Sept 25-27
Time: Fri: 4-9pm, Sat: 11am-9pm, Sun: 11am-6pm
Place: Soldier’s Memorial – downtown

Hispanic Festival: An annual event featuring Hispanic Folkloric dancers from Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, live music from Son Montuno Salsa Band, Los Amancay South American Band, Making Movies Latin Rock, Social Club Cuban Band, Valencia Musical and Paradize Mexican Band from Topeka, Kansas, over 50 booths, salsa and bachata dance lessons, the Los Ninos Kids Corner with Dora the Explorer & Diego, and a Cultural Village which will host a wide variety of foods and beverages from Latin & South. The Low Rider Car Cruise is on Sunday at 1pm. Other attractions include folk arts & crafts, information booths from several cultural organizations, inflatable rides, petting zoo, and a mechanical bull. Admission to the festival is free.

Date: Sept 25-27
Time: Fri & Sat: 9am-10pm, Sun: 11am-9pm
Place: Soulard Park – 7th & Lafayette

11th Annual Wildwood BBQ Bash: The 3rd event in the annual Budweiser BBQ Series competition. “The Bash” is a gauntlet of categories which includes: Ribs, Brisket, Pork, Chicken, Pork Steak, Dessert, Chili and Chefs Choice. There will also be an Iron Chef competition, live music, chicken wing eating contest, people’s choice, and fireworks. Musical guests include: Old Dominion, Al Holliday & The Eastside Rhythm Rockers, Cree Rider Family Band, Kingdom Brothers, Miss Jubilee, and The Go Set.

Date: Sept 25-27
Time: Fri: 6-10pm, Sat: 10am-11pm, Sun: 10am-4pm
Place: Wildwood Town Center

Cards Fans Appreciation Weekend: The Cardinals come home to play the Brewers and celebrate their fans. Friday night fans will enjoy a fireworks celebration. On Saturday, fans will receive a 2016 Cardinals magnet and Lance Berkman bobblehead. Sunday fans will receive a 2016 Cardinals magnet schedule, a free ticket voucher for a 2016 game, and it’s Prairie Farms Ice Cream Sunday!

Date: Sept 25-27
Time: Fri: 7:15pm, Sat: 6:15pm, Sun: 1:15pm
Place: Busch Stadium

5th Annual HOPE 5K: A run to support the Haiti Orphan Project’s mission to help prevent children from being orphaned and keep families together by offering school sponsorships (HOPE Education Project), providing basic medical care (HOPE Medical Project), and helping create jobs (HOPE Economic Project). 100% of this year’s race entry fees will go directly toward the HOPE Medical Project’s efforts to build and fund a permanent medical clinic in Haiti.

Date: Sept 26
Time: 7:30am
Place: 135 W Adams, Kirkwood

Metroquest 2015: A scavenger hunt, pub crawl, and trivia competition to test your knowledge of the city. Travel around Grand Blvd, Tower Grove, and Shaw neighborhoods and compete in trivia and game challenges at each stop. Food and drink specials will be provided at each participating venue. Prizes awarded at the final check-in at Fox Park. There will be a costume contest prize as well. Then head over to The Purple Martin for the after-party. Registration is $40.

Date: Sept 26
Time: 10:30am
Place: Check-in at STL Public Radio-3651 Olive St

2nd annual Small Press Expo: Regional artists and publishers come to St. Louis to share their works at the Central Public Library’s Great Hall. Over 60 indie publishing projects, many of them hand-crafted, from St. Louis and beyond will be showcased. There will be panels and a variety of workshops. Panel include: book design discussion with Bryan Garland, comics discussion from Tim Lane and John Porcellino, discussions with The Tenth, Root Hog or Die documentary watching session, zine and collage workshops, and more.

Date: Sept 26
Time: 11am-5pm
Place: St. Louis Public Library-1301 Olive St

Pedal The Cause: A premier cycling experience and the only St. Louis event that gives 100% of participant donations to Siteman Cancer Center and St. Louis Children’s Hospital to accelerate lifesaving cancer research. In addition to the bike ride, there will be live entertainment, team photos, post-ride massages, lunch, and beer and wine. Saturday is Taste The Cause-head over to the amphitheater to taste dishes from Mai Lee, Mission Taco, Cleveland-Heath, Strange Donuts, Peacemaker, and more. Riders get in free, non-riders tickets are $50.

Date: Sept 26 & 27
Time: Sat: 5-7pm, Sun: 7am
Place: Chesterfield Amphitheater

Strange Folk Fest: St. Louis’ premiere local arts and craft show is taking over Union Station Mall in 2015. 200 vendors will be selling everything from original artwork to hand-crafted fashion accessories and even 3D printers that they independently manufacture. While you shop, enjoy local indie bands: Stephen Korritta, Cave of Swords, Superfun Yeah Yeah Rocketship, Ellen the Felon, Letter to Memphis, and more. Check out free craft projects in “Lasercorn’s Boho Craft Castle” and crowd-favorite children’s play area “Fort Featherbottom.” Admission is free.

Date: Sept 26 & 27
Time: Sat: 10am-8pm, Sun: 10am-5pm
Place: Union Station-1820 Market St

Purple Stride St. Louis: The signature event of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. This event is one of more than fifty-six PurpleStride events, which are critical in raising awareness and funds that advance research and support patients and loved ones with a promise of a better tomorrow. This is a 5K run and family-friendly walk that will take place on a lovely route in Forest Park. The event will include children’s activities, music, and refreshments.

Date: Sept 27
Time: 9:30am
Place: Forest Park – Muny Lot

Art in the Park: An annual art fair that takes place the last Sunday of September. More than 60+ artists come together each year to showcase their creative wares amidst live music, tasty eats and kids activities. This fair has everything from jewelry, pottery, glass and textiles to mixed media, wood, sculpture, painting and photography. Most artists are local, with a few from Illinois and other parts of Missouri. Admission is free. Profits from the art fair will be used to maintain Francis Park and add to the outdoor sculpture garden in and around the lily pond.

Date: Sept 27
Time: 10am-6pm
Place: St. Louis Hills – Francis Park

Rams vs Steelers: The Rams come back home after their away game loss to the Redskins. Back on home turf and ready to win! Tailgate before the game at Baer Park and enjoy a performance by Kim Massie from 9:30-11:30am. Game tickets start at $75.

Date: Sept 27
Time: 12pm
Place: Edward Jones Dome

Mills Properties