St. Louis' Fourth of July celebration is held on the Arch grounds, featuring three days of dynamic air shows, free celebrity concerts and spectacular fireworks every night. The second largest city park in the United States, it contains public tennis courts, three golf courses, an ice skating rink, picnic areas and playgrounds, a small lake where canoeing and boating are possible and a seven-mile bicycle trail. The park is home to the Missouri Historical Society and St. Louis Science Center, as well as the St. Louis Museum of Fine Arts. The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is considered among the best in the country, and its home, Powell Hall, is both attractive and acoustically superior. The St. Louis Opera Company has a monthlong late spring season recognized for high quality and innovation.
Outdoor concerts occur throughout the late spring and summer.
Ragtime and jazz music have a long tradition in this city and remain attractions in many local bistros and cafes along the Riverfront. A newly constructed outdoor venue, Riverport, brings in major popular musical events in the summer months, while such attractions are often presented at the historic Fox Theatre during winter months. In addition to professional hockey, baseball and soccer teams, St. Louis successfully recruited the Rams, a National Football League team. The team will play its 1995 season in a new multimillion dollar domed stadium adjacent to the convention center in downtown St. Louis. And when it's time to get farther away for a long weekend, St. Louis' central location makes exploring cities as different as Memphis and Chicago, Kansas City and New Orleans relatively simple and inexpensive.