Festival of Nations

An absolutely amazing cultural event for the entire family!
To reside in St. Louis and not at least drop in on this wonderful festival is a tragedy (take it from a first-​timer). I’m ashamed.
This event is full of character, culture, activities, food from all around the world and live entertainment for the whole family to enjoy. Tie Dye, Face Painting, Folk Dancing, Jewelry, Clothing, Kids shoes, Sandals, Artwork and authentic food from China to Africa, Russia to Belize. If you can find it on a world map you can find a piece of it right here in Tower Grove Park at Festival of Nations.
For your comfort there is a First Aid tent, shuttles, water station for the doggies, security, guides, lost & found, Port-A-Potty’s and so much more. It’s crowded, super crowded and can be pretty humid. Stay hydrated and enjoy the festivities.

My family’s favorite festival. We look forward to it all year. My only wish: that there would be a Haitian food booth every year!
Things to know:
— It’s free.
— It’s crowded.
— It’s dog-​friendly.
— The food selection is great! So many countries represented! (I try something new every year, and I’m never disappointed.)
— There are craft vendors representing various countries.
— There’s an arts and crafts section for the kiddos.
— Stay and watch a couple of performances (music, dances, and demonstrations).
— Be patient – there really are a lot of people there.
— There are a limited amount of picnic tables to eat at. Consider bringing a blanket to sit on.
Go! And have fun! :-)

This is by far one of the best things about St. Louis, especially if you’re like me and enjoy trying foods from different countries. It spans two days every year in August and takes place in Tower Grove Park.
First, there are TONS of food booths from many different countries. They have less adventurous booths (e.g., American, Thai, Mexican, etc.), as well as many different types of food that I had never tried before (e.g., Eritrean, Bhutanese, Nepalese, etc.). We had food from the Caribbean booth (a meat pie), the Vietnamese booth (egg rolls), the Filipino booth (pancit and crab rangoon), and the Greek booth (a meat kabob)…just to name a few. We also got pork dumplings and garlic fries, but I can’t remember from which booths. Our favorite was definitely the egg rolls. They were super crispy and warm.
Second, going along with the food, the prices are pretty cheap. Lots of booths have appetizers (e.g., crab rangoon, pot stickers, egg rolls, etc.) for $ 2. I also tried some mango punch and strawberry lemonade for $ 2 each.
Third, they have several performances throughout the day. There are musical performances and dance performances from many different countries. I really enjoyed the reggae music we heard this afternoon.
Finally, in addition to food, they have bazaar booths from different countries. My sister and I were really impressed by the sculptures at the Peruvian booth. We just wish there had been a Peruvian food booth as well :(.
Some tips:
1. Make sure to grab a booklet when you walk through the main gate. It spells out more clearly where everything is located.
2. Get there early for a good parking spot. If you can’t get a good spot, look into parking near a shuttle stop because… as others have said… the parking SUCKS. We decided to park halfway between the Festival and Kingshighway on Arsenal, which proved to be easy to get there and leave. However, it made for a rather long walk. With that said, we could have taken advantage of one of the free school bus/​shuttle stops.
3. Although they have several delicious drinks to choose from (e.g., many different flavors of lemonade, coconut juice served in a coconut, smoothies, alcohol, etc.), make sure to bring lots of water.
4. There are several places where they have tables set up with chairs. With that said, I was glad we brought a picnic blanket since many of them were taken.
5. Bring comfortable shoes. You’re not likely to get a good parking spot, so be prepared to walk a lot. Even if you do get a good parking spot, the Festival spans a pretty big portion of Tower Grove, which still means a lot of walking.
6. Bring cash as some booths may not take credit cards. It also helps speed up the line.
7. There seems to be some confusion about the location. It is on the east side of Tower Grove Park near Grand.
Overall, a really fun way to spend the afternoon! I plan to return again next year!

I came here with my husband and my parents. Besides the horrendously hot temperature and high humidity, we had a good time!
There were cultural shows (singing, dancing, music, etc.), booths selling all kinds of items, and a huge variety of food! Oh the food! All the booths had large banners identifying the country /​type of food. We had Eritrean food, Filipino food, German food (yeah, my mom really wanted a bratwurst), and a Taiwanese drink. Both of my parents are from Taiwan, so they were really excited to see that there was a Taiwanese booth. My mom got a drink featuring ai yu jelly, a kind of sweet jelly made out of fig seeds or something. I didn’t think the drink itself was as good as it is in Taiwan, but it was cool that it was available for people to try.
Although there are a ton of trees in Tower Grove Park, it seemed like the street that all of the food vendors were on was the only place that lacked trees! Maybe it only mattered that day because it was so incredibly hot out, but I think it would have been more enjoyable if there was more shade.
If you’re free when this festival is held, I would highly recommend that you visit! Just remember to wear a hat, bring sunscreen, and stay hydrated if it’s hot out!

boyfriend, boyfriend’s family, and I came here for funsies. I’ve heard a lot about it and wanted to see for myself.
The parking is ATROCIOUS! However, they have buses! That’s pretty cool! :D
There are multiple stages with cool performances. We saw some nifty lion dancing and flamenco! There is also an area where vendors sell things from ‘all over the world’. Call me cynical, but a lot of the asian stuff made me think of asian gift-​shop dollar store type things you can find on Olive. o. O
However, the food! Oh my gosh, the food here is FANTASTIC! It’s not cheap, but I had so much fun! bf and I got so many stew type things. One of which was so good he asked if the people had a restaurant. They didn’t! That means there is food here that is mindblowingly good you can get any other time of the year! WHAT?!
J wanted a coconut to drink out of so we stood in line and got one. It was so refreshing! I ended up buying one at the local grocery store a few weeks after because I was that impressed.
I really enjoyed this festival and will probably come back next year!

what a great way to learn about other cultures-​by eating your way through their traditional dishes and shopping around the tents of jewelry, clothing etc. i tried some eritrean food which is very similar to ethiopian and eaten with injera. second course was an amazing spanish paella.
that’s not all– the festival also has several performances like folkloric dancing, singing etc. bare in mind it’s very crowded and parking is hard to come by. i suggest going with a small group and bringing cash and water.

Went for the first time on Sunday. We were very impressed with the lay out and food choices. We ate breakfast before we went because we did not know what to expect. Needless to say, next year we will not eat before we go. Lots of different options to suit everyone.

A non-​psychosomatic illness and sweltering heat led me to have a two-​star experience here, but four stars for them, since I’m a loser. This is one of those cases where I can really see that not being a loser would positively impact your experience.
I mean, it’s not just me, it was hot, right? So yeah, go early before everyone’s like, ewww, this isn’t fun anymore. Park in the parking lot at Grand and Arsenal-​ish. Bring cash. Bring gay pride, too. Just because it isn’t technically the gay pride festival doesn’t mean you can’t be gay and proud. Tower Grove Park misses you.
Come hungry and for God’s sake, eat something here. Even if you aren’t hungry. Lots of what I assume to be authentic cuisine, and even if it’s not, you won’t know the difference, and even if you do, you’re a snob, and who cares, it still tastes good.
This is the perfect place to practice your Asian culture fetish, but just don’t be these guys:
All in all the perfect place to go to experience all of the cultures of countries you will never be rich enough (or brave enough) to visit.
Oh. And music and stuff.

What a great way to spend a day with the wife and kids!
This is the first St. Louis festival we’ve attended but it certainly won’t be the last. Apparently there were about 140,000 in attendance. I cannot vouch for the other 139,996 guests but I can say that these 4 will be going back again next year.
We started at one end of the food row and grazed our way to the other end. A little burek in the shade under a tree followed by pastry while standing in the middle of the lane followed by…
A few stand-​outs:
— Kurdish kebab — tasted remarkably close to how it did when I was in the middle east
— Israeli chocolate croissant — think cinnamon bun made with chocolate and in croissant form
— Spanish paella — didn’t actually get it but holy crap did I want to! It looked just like some of the paella I’ve eaten in Spain
— Argentinian empanadas — seriously, I didn’t know what they were serving when I got in line but I figured that the longest line of the day had to have something great at the other end of it… I was right!
— Skipping breakfast to have a bigger appetite was a good idea but getting there on teenage daughter time offset this because we were all powerful hungry on arrival
— Pure luck but we scored a parking spot right at the corner of Magnolia and S. Grand
A few things I wish we had done differently:
— Brought more water. $ 2 for a bottle that I know only costs 15 cents at Sam’s club really made me feel the pain of the decision not to bring a backpack full,
— Alternated between checking out the food and the crafts. I rapidly got bored with one and the wife lost patience with the other. Had we bounced back and forth it would have been better for everyone.
Quote of the day: «I don’t know where the hell you’ve been all this time but anything short of ‘I was abducted by aliens’ isn’t good enough!» This was from a husband pushing a stroller to a wife when she appeared out of the crowd. Apparently, the aliens must have absconded with their cell phones.

Don’t forget a GIANT thing of water, hand sanitizer, bug spray, and wear your sunscreen. Besides that, bring cash and to go containers for storing any food you don’t finish.
It was amazing this year. Tried pepper soup from the Liberian booth, and of course meat pie and moin moin from the Nigerian booth. Tried chicken vatapa from the brazilian booth and some delicious falafel too. Everything was delicious.

This was our first time at the Festival, and our family had a great time! Food, music, dance, crafts, an international petting zoo, and a downloadable app. What more could you ask for?
We chose Ethiopian lentil sambusas, pastries with a spicy berbere sauce (fantastic!) and Kurdish pitas with hummus for lunch, listened to a variety of music, strolled the market row, and were mesmerized by several dance groups on the main stage. Our toddler loved the petting zoo. As we were leaving, we stopped to watch a performer at the Village Green teaching lively dance moves to a group of young children, who were clearly having a blast!
Some tips: get there early. Many activities, music, etc. start at 10 am. We got there about 9:45 and did not have to look too long for a parking spot. Thirty minutes later and the crowd was substantial. They do offer shuttles, so if you park around the neighborhood, look for the posted signs. Bring a blanket or chairs to sit on. While there is good shade from plenty of mature trees, the ground can be damp. Bring plenty of ice water and bug spray, and enjoy!’

Oh man, I wish Festival of Nations went on for 2 months instead of 2 days. How is one supposed to try all the food in such a short amount of time?! We had some curry puff pastries, a gyro from the Greek table, paella from the Spanish booth, watermelon juice from the Mexican booth, and my favorite, borek from the Turkish booth (courtesy of Aya Sofia). Everything was really pretty good, super expensive, but really tasty. The food was certainly the stand out for us, but there were other things too :)
They have multiple stages with entertainment — dancing & music, which my toddler thought was really entertaining. There were lots of merchant vendors, henna painting & a cute arts and crafts area for families.
This was the first time I’ve been to this festival & plan on going again next year. A couple mistakes we made — not bringing a stroller for our toddler, and grabbing the first parking spot we found, which wasn’t especially close. We ended up carrying our little one half the time. It’s a big park & there’s a lot of walking. I do wish there were more seating, and we’ll bring a blanket or something next year. It was nearly impossible to find a place to sit & eat, unless you don’t mind sitting on the ground.
At any rate, we really enjoyed this — it’s a great event for the city of STL.

Had a great time with the family today! There is truly something for everyone here. Of course, the husband and I mostly came for the food and were not disappointed. Not the usual tacos, pizza, and spaghetti that pass as ethnic food at some festivals… we had Bosnian grilled sausages, Kurdish kebab, Argentinian empanadas, Israeli chocolate croissant, Philippine noodles, and more.
Teen and Tween really enjoyed looking at the craft items; each scored a piece of unique jewelry. Tween got a henna tattoo. So a good time was had by all and we will definitely look for this festival again next year!

I had a great time at the FON this year! I went with a friend on Sunday afternoon-​the weather was just perfect for a walk around the park. There were hundreds of food booths to choose from; however, I was more interested in the entertainment. I enjoyed live music, dancing, karate, and so much more! I also enjoyed the market portion-​looking at jewelry, pottery, clothing, and shoes always makes this girl happy!
This event is always so well organized and the park does an amazing job at making sure its patrons are being taken care of. I look forward to next year’s event!

One of my favorite festivals in Tower Grove Park. Every year it seems that they add more food, vendors, artists & events!
Not only is this a great way for locals to showcase their international flare, the festival gives artists, musicians and all kinds of other vendors the opportunity to show STL what they’ve got!
This year, my haul included a cool tie dye hair wrap, a hand sewn bag from Guatemala, home made shea butter, unique stone rings and a one of a kind necklace with turquoise.
Food, I think there were 30 countries of food represented. I mean, really where else could you possible have Nigerian, Burmese, Afghan, Scottish, Eritrean, Spanish & Thai cuisine all at your fingertips (I only names a handful here)?!
There are 3 music stages and lots of other interactive events as well.
If you’ve never been, you should definitely add this to your «to-​do» list next year.
Always fun, always different!

Festival of Nations is my favorite festival in St. Louis! This is the 5^th year I’ve gone and each year it gets bigger and better. Nothing beats munching on German pancakes while listening to a guy playing flutes he hand carved from tree limbs. Or watching COBU, the Japanese drum/​tap group while enjoying a peach empanada. BTW, those German pancakes were as big a dinner plate.
Tower Grove Park is the perfect place to host this event. There’s plenty of room to move about and you almost never feel like you are in a crowd. The food area can get a little busy though.
The food selection is just as amazing as the entertainment choices. The food prices are reasonable. And, I always find a «must have» item from one of the vendors.
Parking can be a little challenging. The park is huge, so if you find yourself parked on the Kingshighway side of the park, do yourself a favor and hop on the free shuttle. It’s a long walk otherwise. The shuttle stops are clearly marked and they seem to make regular rounds.

A wonderful event!
On one side of the park they have booths lined up with foods from all over. Some of the foods were a little off though. Crab rangoons at the Filipino booth? Really? Chris (who is Filipino) was very appalled. Other than that they have food from just about everywhere you can think of. We decided to go with something eccentric and got Ethiopian food. It was tasty, but it was toward the end of the festival and they were getting a bit stingy with their portions.
On the other side of the grass field they have many booths with merchandise from all over the world. We spent a good hour going from booth to booth trying on masks, playing with odd toys, and trying on amazing jewelry. Some things are expensive and some are not. I was extremely happy with everything I found to purchase.
* TIP: there is a bus system that runs through the park for this event, so that when you have to end up parking REALLY far away you can just take the bus to the festival! Be looking for the yellow school buses and the signs labeled for the bus stops.
— M & C

I love the Festival of Nations. I first started going when it was on Grand Ave. I even designed the logo in 1999. (Yeah, it’s ok to be a little star struck. I’m big time.) As cool as it is to close a major street like Grand, I’ve loved that the festival has moved to Tower Grove. Each year it gets better and better. They’ve really started to accommodate the large crowds by spreading things out and making sure there is plenty of space to walk.
I love that you can sit under the shade of Tower Grove’s beautiful trees and watch all the performances on the main stage. But really you can only sit there for so long before the overwhelming aroma of amazing food entices you to walk down the center road with all the food booths. You can have a 20 course meal from all different countries, including spring rolls, Ethiopian sambusas, authentic tacos with carnitas and a lot of cilantro, pad thai, kabobs of all sorts, fresh fruit juices, flan, and the list seriously goes on forever.
Tips from a seasoned veteran: don’t eat for at least 24 hours before you go, and plan on going on both Saturday and Sunday because you know there are going to be things that you see on Saturday that you’re going to have to come back for!

Stopped by Festival of Nations last weekend and it was a great time. I was sick so I didn’t get to fully enjoy everything or stick around too long, but I got to check out a lot. The amount of food is overwhelming! I got stuff from a couple vendors. I loved the Native American booth’s frybread with honey on it. Their blackberry sage tea was perfect too. Not too sweet or bitter and a great price. The Burmese food I tried was interesting, and as I wanted to try something I’d never tried before, it fit the bill. I’m not sure I’d get what I got again though. I was drooling over the falafel in a couple booths, but because I can get that anytime I really wanted to try something else. This is a vegetarian’s dream! SO many veg options in many booths. Shows how much meat Americans eat.
Stephanie S and I walked around the craft booths but it was SO crowded that it was hard to browse.
I got a henna tattoo. It was quick and easy. I really liked that part!
The entertainment was really good, and next time I need to schedule my visit around what I want to see and bring a chair so I can relax in between sets.
The only thing that sucked was parking. Plan to park FAR away. There is a shuttle system but it isn’t that clear and nothing is marked (shuttle stops are, but not how to walk or drive to them from where you park). Shuttles were school buses and I found both shuttle drivers to be extremely friendly. Plan to WALK and bring walking shoes. There is a handicapped parking area but it is still not too close, and things are spread out.
Being that it’s a free event with no charge for parking or entertainment and food is pretty cheap, this is a must see!

Hands down, this is my favorite festival in St. Louis! Seriously… where else can you sample Burmese and Nigerian food at the same time, or buy crafts from Morocco and Ecuador, or watch West African Dancers and listen to Tibetan monks all in the same place? The Festival of Nations is held once a year at the end of August in Tower Grove Park and features food, crafts, music and dancing from around the world. Each year it gets bigger and bigger as more food and craft booths are added and more people come to visit.
This two day event is well organized for the 140,000 + people who come to explore. Food booths are lined up along the main road through the park and craft booths are scattered along the side roads with 4 stages located around all the action. Each booth is clearly labeled with the country/​ethnic representation and maps are provided to help you find your way around.
If you love international cuisine and trying new foods, then you will be in heaven here! Over the last five years I’ve eaten lots of good food here. It’s not all 5 star foods; most is amazing, but some of it can be hit and miss. Overall, I’ve enjoy almost everything I’ve tried with my favorites being the Bosnian grilled meats, Argentine empanadas, Native American fried bread and Bulgarian baklava. The best strategy is to come with friends and share and sample as much as you can! Skip breakfast and stay for lunch and dinner if you have time.
There is always something going on at one of the stages, so bring a chair or a blanket to take a break while soaking up some cultural dancing or music. Enjoy the belly dancers from the Middle East, get a henna tattoo or get your hair braided as you explore the park.
Be sure to bring plenty of cash as most booths don’t accept credit card. ATM’s are available, but lines can be long and the cash might run out by the end of the day. You can spend a whole day at this festival, but if you are short on time, it’s best to come early to avoid the crowds and long lines at the food booths.