Budget St. Louis

I can party in the Botanical Garden on someone else's dime?!

Missouri Botanical Garden
4344 Shaw Boulevard, Saint Louis, Missouri 63110-2226
Automated Events Hotline: (314) 577-9400 or (800) 642-8842
Phone: (314) 577-5100
Garden Visitor Guide Map

Don't forget to celebrate Henry Shaw's 210th birthday on Saturday, July 24th!

To honor their founder, the Missouri Botanical Garden will have free admission from 9am-5pm and an old fashioned party from 10am-3pm.  Entertainment will include magician, stilt-walker, silhouette artist, Victorian-period actors, games, and music.

Activities will be held on Spoehrer Plaza, outside the Ridgway Visitor Center.

I have an ongoing hookup for free admission, exhibits, and concerts at the Missouri Botanical Garden?!

Missouri Botanical Garden
4344 Shaw Boulevard, Saint Louis, Missouri 63110-2226
Automated Events Hotline: (314) 577-9400 or (800) 642-8842
Phone: (314) 577-5100

Garden Visitor Guide Map

As a savvy savings shopper, you know that Residents of St. Louis City and County receive free general admission to the Botanical Garden Wednesdays and Saturdays before noon.  But did you know that currently, if you get there before 10am, you also get free admission to the Children's Garden and DinoQuest exhibit (through October 3rd)?  The tickets can be used at any point during the day, as long as you're there before 10am to pick them up.

The Botanical Garden has free admission after 5pm on Wednesday, too, when the Whitaker Music Festival (through August 4th) bathes the grounds with the dulcet sounds of classical, folk, world music, and bluegrass.  Concerts begin at 7:30pm an remember to bring chairs and blankets for the lawn seating.  Picnics are welcome, or food and drink can be purchased on-site.

Concerts remaining for this season are:

Beyond Abbey Road
A Beatles tribute with Peter Mayer
July 21

Kevin Lucas Orchestra
Contemporary world music
July 28

Gene Dobbs Bradford and the Blues Inquisition
Powerhouse blues band
August 4

I can catch free movies this summer?

Wehrenberg Family Summer Series 2010
Wed and Thurs mornings, shows begin at 10am
through August 5th
Locations

See 10 different great family films - all for free!
Click title for movie info and trailers
Where the Wild Things Are
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
My Dog Skip
The Muppet Movie
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Alvin & the Chipmunks
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Planet 51
Tooth Fairy

Family Summer Series Combo Offer
$5 for popcorn, soda, and candy

Schedule by Theatre

Want to take an Alaskan journey? For free?

Saint Louis Zoo
One Government Drive, St. Louis, MO 63110
Zoo Information: (314) 781-0900 or (800) 966-8877
Science Seminar Series Information: (314) 646-4544
No reservations required.
FREE
Seminars are held in The Living World of the St. Louis Zoo

You'll have access to some of the brightest minds when the St. Louis Zoo and the Academy of Science St. Louis team up to bring you the free Science Seminar series, saying: "This is 21st Century Science".

The upcoming day and topic is:

Salmon in the Trees: Life in Alaska's Tongass Rain Forest
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
7:30-9:00pm

Award-winner photographer and author Amy Gulick takes you on the journey she's made over the last two years, documenting "the grizzly bears, wolves, bald eagles, humpback whales, and wild salmon of the Tongass National Forest."  A book signing will immediately follow the talk.

"Salmon in the Trees tells the story of the Tongass, a rare rain forest spread among thousands of islands in the panhandle of Alaska.  It's a place where everything grows everything.  Young saplings grow on top of fallen, centuries-old trees.  Bears, eagles, and Native cultures grow strong on wild salmon.  Trees grow salmon, and salmon grow trees."

Want to get the lowdown on sustainability? For free?

Saint Louis Zoo
One Government Drive, St. Louis, MO 63110
Zoo Information: (314) 781-0900 or (800) 966-8877
Science Seminar Series Information: (314) 646-4544
No reservations required.
FREE
Seminars are held in The Living World of the St. Louis Zoo

You'll have access to some of the brightest minds when the St. Louis Zoo and the Academy of Science St. Louis team up to bring you the free Science Seminar series, saying: "This is 21st Century Science".

The upcoming day and topic is:

Subversive Science: Sustainability and Architecture
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
7:30-9:00pm

"A house that grows itself, a sustainable farmers' market in the Ville neighborhood of St. Louis that improves public health, a play structure for an after school arts program in Pagedale, a sustainable skyscraper in Chicago..."

Bruce Lindsey, Dean of Washington University's College of Architecture, explores sustainability and how our structures relate to both or environment and us.

Want to make a groundbreaking discovery?

Saint Louis Zoo
One Government Drive, St. Louis, MO 63110
Zoo Information: (314) 781-0900 or (800) 966-8877
Science Seminar Series Information: (314) 646-4544
No reservations required.
FREE
Seminars are held in The Living World of the St. Louis Zoo

You'll have access to some of the brightest minds when the St. Louis Zoo and the Academy of Science St. Louis team up to bring you the free Science Seminar series, saying: "This is 21st Century Science".

The upcoming day and topic is:

Citizen Science: From the Cosmos to Coneflowers: The Story of How Ordinary People Are Enabling Large Scale Discovery
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
7:30-9:00pm

Have you ever wanted to make a difference in the world?  More and more, science is becoming overwhelmed with data and scientists are asking their community for help.  "From the discovery of rare 'Green Pea' galazies to the firt sighting in fourteen years of a rare non-spotted ladybug in the Northeastern U.S., ordinary citizens are contributing to discoveries in science."
Want to help by doing some legwork or grabbing your computer?  Dr. Pamela Gay will show how you can contribute, from counting birds to sifting through images of far-off galaxies.

I can go to a special event at the St. Louis Zoo for free?! (3 of 3)

Saint Louis Zoo
One Government Drive, St. Louis, MO 63110
Zoo Information: (314) 781-0900 or (800) 966-8877
Conservation Conversations Information: (314) 646-4544
No reservations required.
FREE

The St. Louis Zoo and the Academy of Science St. Louis teamed up to bring you free Conservation Conversations.  The upcoming day and topic is:

Race for Survival: Cheetahs in Peril
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
7:30-9:00pm

Historically, the St. Louis Zoo has been known as "a leader in Cheetah research and captive breeding".  Their Curator of Carnivores, Steve Bircher, will tell you about the cheetahs at our zoo, as well as what problems wild cheetahs face and what is being done to protect them.

I can entertain my family for hours (for free!) and get them to burn off some of that holiday sugar?!

Saint Louis Zoo
One Government Drive, St. Louis, MO 63110
Zoo Information: (314) 781-0900 or (800) 966-8877
Until December 31st
9am-5pm daily, close at 3pm Dec 31st

Still have family in town and are wondering what to do with them through the New Year?  You are the family in town and have no idea what to do with your kids who are all hopped up on sugar and excitement?  Why not take them to "Visitor Appreciation Days" at the St. Louis Zoo?  General admission to the Zoo is always free, but now through December 31st you also receive free admission to the Emerson Children's Zoo!

The zoo inhabitants will also receive special treats during Appreciation Days, so make sure to check the schedule so you can catch the show!

You can still catch the U.S. Bank Wild Lights display through December 30th, 5:30-8:30pm!  General tickets are $5, with children under 2 admitted free.

Want someone to give you a free movie (or two) in the theatre this weekend?!

Wehrenberg Theatres
various locations
Saturday, December 5th, 2009

Just remember: For Free, Five Five Five!

Want to watch a free movie this Saturday?  Just bring 5 cans of food to any Wehrenberg Theatre before 5pm on the 5th for free admission.  If you bring 15 cans in to donate, Wehrenberg will give you a movie pass for another day!

All food is used to help stock the Salvation Army pantries.

Want to learn how to skip moral politics? For free?

Saint Louis Zoo
One Government Drive, St. Louis, MO 63110
Zoo Information: (314) 781-0900 or (800) 966-8877
Science Seminar Series Information: (314) 646-4544
No reservations required.
FREE
Seminars are held in The Living World of the St. Louis Zoo

You'll have access to some of the brightest minds when the St. Louis Zoo and the Academy of Science St. Louis team up to bring you the free Science Seminar series, saying: "This is 21st Century Science".

The upcoming day and topic is:

How to Make Embryonic Stem Cells without Embryos
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
7:30-9:00pm

Dr. R. Michael Roberts will give you "a fascinating look at science on the frontiers of biochemistry."