The St. James Grape and Fall Festival kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 7 and will offer a weekend full of events, entertainment, carnival rides and family-friendly activities. Major events include a queen pageant, livestock show, dog show and street parade. The event, now in its 93rd year, will be held across Nelson Hart Park and downtown St. James.

Kristy Rich, parks and recreation director for the city of St. James, said that the Grape and Fall Festival is a long-held and much-loved tradition for people in the community.

“This is grape country in this area, and (the festival) was something that was started 93 years ago,” Rich said.

At nearly a century old, the Grape and Fall Festival has added several new activities to its 2026 schedule. This year, the festival will have a concert every night, expand the Royalty Pageant to a broader range of age groups, and add an adult division. A new company, Hulsey Entertainment, is providing carnival rides for this year’s fair. Livestock shows and exhibits will run all weekend, culminating in a livestock sale on Saturday afternoon. 

The weigh-ins for the livestock show will be open from 4 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10, followed 5 to 9 p.m. activities such as the livestock exhibits, a flea market and Purple Lane and vendors. The poultry and rabbit show starts at 5 p.m. Carnival rides and games will be open from 6 until 10 p.m., with the beer and wine garden open from 6 until 9 p.m.

Then, at 6 p.m., contestants in the Royalty Pageant will take to the main stage. The pageant has added a new category for adults. Entrants can compete in four categories. Kindergarteners through first graders can compete in the Mini Queen Pageant. Seventh and eighth graders can compete in the Jr Miss Pageant, and ninth through 12th graders can compete in the Queen Pageant. Then, adults can compete in an adults-only division. Winners will be crowned in each category.

Activities on Thursday will end with a concert from the Nashville-based band The Faster Horses, who will appear on the main stage.

On Friday, the festival’s livestock show will get an early 7 a.m. start. Then, at 1 p.m. is the dairy and beef cattle show. From 1 until 9 p.m., both LWJ and 4-H exhibits and the flea market will be open. Kids races will take place at 3:30 at the west field, followed by a duck hunt event sponsored by the St. James Police Department. The professional dog show is from 5-7 p.m., with purple lane and vendors also opening at 5 p.m. Then, at 6 p.m. there will be a cornhole tournament at the large pavilion, and a bingo game with the Knights of Columbus at the small pavilion.

The beer and wine garden also opens at 6 p.m., with carnival activities open from 6-10 p.m. The team roping rodeo event will be at 7 p.m. at the arena. The day’s events will close with a concert from Rolla-based musician Jordan Isakson.

On Saturday, Sept. 12, the street market will be open at the Downtown Plaza from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for events. For parade participants, the lineup is at 9 a.m. at the St. James Veterans Home. Parade judging follows at 10 a.m., and the 11 a.m. parade. This year’s theme is “100 Years of Grapes and Great Times.” The parade will begin at the veterans home and travel through downtown, before concluding at St. James High School.

Then, at 1 p.m., is the buyer’s luncheon at the livestock barn. Also at 1 p.m., the carnival matinee opens until 5 p.m. and is open for matinee ticket-holders only. Public exhibits and the flea market are also open from 1 until 9 p.m. The livestock sale kicks off at 2:30 p.m. at the livestock barn. The beer and wine garden opens at 3 p.m.

The grape stomp event, sponsored by St. James Winery, will be at 4 p.m. at the small pavilion, followed by another round of bingo with the Knights of Columbus, also at the small pavilion.  The grape stomp is a long-running fixture of the festival and celebrates St. James’ connection to grape agriculture.

“The grape stomp is a huge tradition,” Rich said. “Seeing how this is a grape and fall festival, and we have a lot of vineyards around here, that was something that they did to make wine way back in the day, but it just started and never stopped.”

Also at 5 p.m., the Ozark Spirit Cloggers will take to the main stage to perform dances. The carnival opens at 6 through 10 p.m. Then, at the arena at 7 p.m., is the wiener dog and other breed race event, where small pets compete to see who is the fastest on four legs.

Finally, Saturday’s activities will come to a close with an 8 p.m. performance from The House Band on the main stage.