Winter Wonderland, the million-light holiday display in Tilles Park, opens on Wednesday for its 27th showing this year. Pedestrians got a sneak preview this weekend, and food trucks provided fuel for the exercise. See Hazelwood Patch's Facebook page for more photos. (Like it!) The drive-through, by car or horse-drawn carriage, opens Nov. 21 at 5:30 p.m. and runs through Jan. 1. It's closed Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. Saturdays are reserved for carriage rides only. The following information is from the St. Louis County Parks Department.  Admission Fees: $10 family vehicle $20 limousine $…

If you're looking to get away from the City of Hazelwood this weekend without draining the gas tank, here's a One Tank Trip you may enjoy. The 35th Annual Apple Butter Festival kicks off this weekend in historic Kimmswick.  The event, which is expected to draw about 100,000 people, runs Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Be sure to bring a jacket because temperatures are expected to only reach the mid-50s this weekend. The Kimmswick Historical Society will once again be making and selling its famous apple butter at the Apple Butter Pavilion on Market Street. Visitors will …

From action and adventure to romance and comedy, there is something for everyone in the 2012 summer season of shows at The Muny in Forest Park. Mike Isaacson, The Muny’s executive producer, said the cast and crew relish The Muny experience. “We’re very fortunate,” said Isaacson, who took over at the end of last season for longtime Muny executive producer Paul Blake. “It’s fun for a couple of reasons. Everybody here loves what they do, and loves being able to support these people. That generosity of spirit just sort of flows through everything we do, which is really great. The real key of that…

If money is tight for a big trip this summer, you can still feel like you're leaving the City of Hazelwood with a 30-minute drive. Travel back in time to a 16th century France full of jousters, strolling minstrels, sword fights and more during the 14th annual St. Louis Renaissance Faire this weekend at Rotary Park in Wentzville. Bob Stanza, president of the Renaissance Faire’s board of directors, said the Faire offers equal parts education and entertainment, with some enthralling elements. “If they haven’t been there before, certainly they want to go see the jousting, because that’s something…

If you don't have anything planned for this Memorial Day weekend in the City of Hazelwood head over to University City. A packed musical roster featuring blues vocalist Kim Massie and “American Idol” alumni Nikko Smith and Aloha Mi’sho plus carnival rides and a classic car show highlight the second annual Fair U City Saturday through Monday at Heman Park. “I’m very pleased,” said University City Mayor Shelley Welsch. “I think we have a good mix and it will encourage people from around the region to come, which is what we hope because this carnival is really about building a greater sense of …

One of Justin Blanchard’s fondest memories from performing in the Shakespeare Festival St. Louis production of Hamlet two years ago is the time he spent talking with audience members after each show’s final curtain. “I always like to come out afterwards. We kind of just mingle with the crowd, and talk with people,” he said. “You can grab me afterwards and ask me questions or tell me what you thought. I always welcome that kind of feedback and interaction with people who have questions. I think that’s a really wonderful part about the festival.” Othello Opening Blanchard plays the villainous …

Once you attended all the events in the City of Hazelwood through Saturday, feel free to expand past the city limits and see what the greater area has to offer on Sunday. Artists in a variety of styles from visual to vocal highlight the 25th annual Laumeier Art Fair today through Sunday at Laumeier Sculpture Park in Sunset Hills. The fair, which also offers a packed lineup of musical entertainers including vocalist Erin Bode and the group Farshid Etniko, has become a tradition to many area people. “It’s fantastic,” said Marie Oberkirsch, special events manager at Laumeier. “I was just …

Live music with a Latin and a rock flavor, art demonstrations and a quirky, colorful parade highlight Cinco de Mayo on Cherokee Street. The event starts runs from 11 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. Saturday in south St. Louis. Make your stops around Hazelwood to El Coco Loco and Pueblo Nuevo which hosts Cinco celebrations then head to south city. “It’s definitely one of the most unique parades that I’ve ever seen,” said Jason Deem, who co-organizes the celebration with Will Liebermann. “It’s something I think would only happen on Cherokee, because we’ve got so many artists and so many creative people …

Acoustic rock/current alternative group Stranger’s Almanac takes pride in being an atypical bar band. “Last time (we played) we got a lot of compliments on our particular song selection,” said band leader Chris Brokaw. “Like, ‘Wow, you guys do a really interesting version of that song,’ or ‘Wow, I love that song. I’ve never heard a band play that out.' That’s kind of what we’re going for.” Stranger’s Almanac features Brokaw on guitar and vocals, drummer,percussionist and backup vocalist Aaron Brokaw (Chris’s brother), Josh White playing guitar, mandolin and harmonica and adding vocals, …

It's just a hop, skip and a jump away from the City of Hazelwood. dScottish-American culture and character will be on display through lively music and dance, unique athletic contests, fascinating storytelling and more during the 12th annual Missouri Tartan Day Festivities today through Sunday at Frontier Park in St. Charles. “It’s just a fantastic weekend,” said Tartan Day Chairman Vickie Struckmann. “Just come down and wander.” Tartan Day started as an observance of the April 6, 1320, Declaration of Arbroath, when Scots gained independence from English rule. “I look forward to this every …

Most people think about  the future while in college, but David Gerrold took it several steps further by envisioning the future and writing about it. While enrolled in a college screenwriting class in 1966, he contacted a new TV show called Star Trek and submitted several story ideas. One of them was “The Trouble With Tribbles,” which became one of the show’s most popular episodes ever and launched Gerrold’s career as a writer. “It was a career choice that grabbed me, rather than the other way around,” Gerrold said. Gerrold, who will appear at the St. Louis Science Center Friday as part of “…

Hazelwood residents looking for something one-of-a-kind to do now have it. Cavalia, the equine and equestrian extravaganza being performed in St. Louis through April 8, combines all the flash and spectacle of a circus with the serenity and beauty of a walk in the woods. The show, called “A Magical Encounter Between Human and Horse,” explores humankind’s longstanding relationship with horses. Cavalia features 37 highly skilled riders, acrobats, aerialists, dancers and musicians and 49 magnificent horses. Over the course of two hours, the horses gambol, trot and gallop across the expansive 160-…

If you are looking for something to do and you in the Hazelwood Area, a live concert might do some good. In an award-winning career that has spanned 40 years and over 25 recordings, singer-actress Maureen McGovern keeps coming back to her true passion – performing live. “I just love performing,” McGovern said by phone from an extended concert stop in Palm Springs. “The show is a journey every night. It’s a train we get on together – the audience and myself – and take this journey. It’s cathartic in a way, for me. It’s also just a joy – I work with such incredible musicians, and I feel very …

There may not be a location in the City of Hazelwood serving as a platform for comedy, but that doesn't mean residents don't like to laugh. The Theatre Guild is offering patrons more bang for the buck with their current production of “All in the Timing” – it’s buy one ticket, get six one-act comedies. Comedy, however, just hints at what audiences can expect from these one-acts, all written by David Ives. “They are mind-numbingly fun, because they will blow your mind,” said Krystal Stevenson, who has roles in two of the one-act plays. “They are kind of an interesting, existential view of the …

In one stride, visitors to the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House in Chesterfield go from a low humidity temperate zone to a steamy tropical jungle. A fairyland of dancing, vibrant colors—both butterflies and blooms—bursts on the inside of the Butterfly House’s 7,900-square-foot Tropical Conservatory, located about 15 miles west of Clayton and Richmond Heights. Blue Morphos are the stars of the March Morpho Mania exhibit that began Thursday. The exhibit features thousands of them, swelling the Butterfly House ranks to 3,000 or so butterflies representing 60 to 100 of the 18,000 species worldwide…

With a 17-piece big band heavy on brass instruments, the Dave Dickey Big Band will deliver room-filling tunes during their Sunday performance in Kirkwood. “The band’s got a big sound,” band leader and trombone player Dave Dickey said. “They’re all professional guys, so they’re all very good soloists and players.” The performance will be 6-9 p.m. at the Kirkwood Station Brewing Company, which features a good restaurant and a great area for music. “It’s a big room – it’s fun,” he said. “They actually have a dance floor. We had a gig there last January, and so many people showed up, it was great…

Three days before the official opening for six new exhibitions at The Sheldon Art Galleries, art galleries director Olivia Lahs-Gonzales zipped through the exhibition space on a whirlwind tour. “These are pretty stunning,” Lahs-Gonzales said, looking at the large photographs of Tim Simmons. “He uses a (large format) four by five camera. They’re amazingly detailed — you can see every blade of grass.” Simmons and Steve Giovinco have photos in the “Edge of Darkness” exhibit. The photos contributed by Simmons are all shot in darkness or near darkness, with artificial light introduced to highlight…

In the entranceway to the Missouri History Museum, not too far from where a small herd of Asian elephants roam their enclosure at the St. Louis Zoo, an elephant-like creature sporting huge, curved tusks looms over visitors. This creature, a lifelike replica of a Columbian mammoth, stands 14-feet at the shoulder and looks like it could’ve won a tug-of-war with a couple of African elephants. It is part of the museum’s “Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age” exhibit, which continues through April 15. These magnificent mammals, which inhabited North and Central America during the …

Actor Robert Picardo is known to Star Trek: Voyager fans as the holographic doctor, so will his appearance this weekend at the St. Louis Science Center will be real or holo? “Since I can reconfigure the magnetic containment field that creates the illusion of my body, to either allow matter to pass through it or be stopped, you don’t really know," Picardo said by phone from Los Angeles, where he lives. "Just coming up and trying to pass your hands through my chest is no longer a sufficient test. Actually, now that I think about it, I suppose that it is. I don’t recommend it though.” During the…

The Saint Louis Zoo will give children something to smile about Sundays in January and February during Delta Dental Winter Zoo, from fun plays about keeping smiles healthy to games, activities and parades. “It’s always fun to come to the Saint Louis Zoo, but a lot of people don’t think about coming to the zoo in the wintertime,” said Ginny Westmoreland, the zoo’s director of marketing. “But it’s a great time to come out to the zoo, and we’ve developed this series of events leading up to Mardi Gras.” Every Sunday through Feb. 19, the Delta Dental Stage Show will be presented in The Living …