All Our Seasons in Sainte Genevieve

AAA Magazine ranked the top Christmas towns in the Midwest.  Ste. Genevieve came in at #2! Party like its 1745 in the old French village of Ste. Geneviève where the new blends with old traditions during the Holiday Christmas Festival on the first full weekend in December. On Saturday, December 4, festivities kick off with a parade led by Santa, followed by shopping opportunities and open houses honoring French Christmas traditions. On Saturday afternoon, the Felix Vallé House State Historic Site, which dates to 1818, re-creates Le Réveillon—a traditional feast usually served after midnight Christmas Mass that includes 13 desserts honoring Jesus and his disciples. Then return to Ste. Geneviève on December 31 for La Guignolée, a French New Year’s Eve tradition. Follow costumed La Guignolèe revelers as they march to select sites in town and sing a beggar’s song for drinks and favors. The party continues at their final stop, the Centre for French Colonial Life, and participants welcome the New Year. Read more…

U.S. 250 in Sainte Geneviève – Commemorating America’s Forgotten Western Front May 30-May 31, 2026 Missouri’s oldest town becomes the center of Revolutionary War commemoration as Sainte Geneviève hosts its U.S. 250 celebration the weekend after Memorial Day, honoring the 245th anniversary of the Battle of Fort San Carlos—the westernmost engagement of the American Revolution and a pivotal moment in determining control of the Mississippi River. This two-day living history event brings to life the diverse forces that shaped America’s founding on the frontier, featuring appearances by George Washington and Spanish Governor Bernardo de Gálvez, military encampments representing French, Spanish, British, Osage, and American forces, hands-on historical experiences, period vendors, and a spectacular fireworks finale. The Forgotten Battle That Saved the Mississippi On May 26, 1780, the small Franco-Spanish village of St. Louis faced an assault by nearly 1,000 British-allied Native American warriors and fur traders intent on seizing control of the Mississippi River. Spanish Lieutenant Governor Fernando de Leyba had hastily constructed Fort San Carlos—a single stone tower with trenches—and desperately needed reinforcements. Sainte Geneviève answered the call. François Vallé, a 64-year-old former French militia captain, sent his two sons and 60 well-trained militiamen north to St. Louis, along Read more…

The Ste. Geneviève Grape During the 1800s, Ste. Geneviève had its own type of grape. It went by various names, Ste. Geneviève, Amoureux, Red Elben, and American Rulander. It was grown extensively in the Hermann MO and Ohio areas. Today, it is no longer grown. Ste. Geneviève people have been making wine for its entire existence. Originally, the early French made wine from wild grapes growing up in the trees. The phrase, making the vintage with a hatchet, referred to the practice of cutting down trees in order to get to the grapes. The wine was also made from local fruits and berries. Many locals still make their own wine. Today, Ste. Geneviève County is home to numerous wineries along the Route de Vin Trail. Read more…

Zielinski ‘s – Forty Years of Hand-Picked Treasures from Family Adventures Turned Into Downtown Landmark At 288 Merchant Street, the Zielinski family has spent four decades transforming their treasure-hunting adventures into one of Sainte Geneviève’s most beloved antique shops—the kind of place locals describe as “organized and easy to navigate” despite being packed with dishware, vintage luggage, Christmas décor, Precious Moments figurines, lanterns, lamps, and records, where every item represents a story about where the Zielinskis and their friends found it, why they thought it worth bringing back, and who might fall in love with it next. This isn’t sterile retail where corporate buyers order inventory from catalogs. This is deeply personal curation where forty years of estate sales, auctions, flea markets, antique shows, and chance discoveries have filled the shop with items that caught the Zielinskis’ eye—hand-picked across decades of adventuring through Missouri’s backroads and beyond, hunting for the interesting, the beautiful, the nostalgic, and the uniquely connected to Sainte Geneviève’s history. The books and albums section draws particular praise from reviewers who call it one of their “favorite places to shop for anything eclectic, as well as music (LPs especially),” suggesting the Zielinskis have assembled serious vinyl collection Read more…