Things to do in St. Louis

Cyclists decorated their bikes and themselves and got as “bare as you dare” for a 15-mile ride through St. Louis’ streets Saturday night for the World Naked Bike Ride.

A new book on small town Missouri aims to connect rural and urban residents.

The annual Red Lantern City Night Market celebrates Asian cultures and community. It’s part carnival, part bazaar and part block party.

The host of NPR’s “All Things Considered” will perform at City Winery St. Louis this Saturday.

The region offers more than 60 splash pads, spray poles, wade pools and other ways for families to cool off from the summer sun — many of them free of charge.

“Romeo and Zooliet” is a kid-friendly adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet” that puts large, custom-made animal puppets at center stage. St. Louis Shakespeare Festival will perform it at St. Louis Zoo from Tuesday through Aug. 17.

From Wednesday through Sunday, two award-winning mermaids from Dallas, Lenisa Ann LaCourse and Scarlett Wolf, will swim with thousands of fish and sharks in two exhibits. It’s the first time the aquarium has hosted mermaids as part of its “Summer of the Shark” campaign to attract new audiences.

Bougie Bites, Lefty’s Bagels and Grace Chicken + Fish are among the restaurants that opened last month.

New festival Free 4 All will take over 10 venues in Grand Center the weekend before Music At The Intersection. Organizers of the new festival say it’s a sort of opening act for MATI, featuring St. Louis artists.

Pride St. Louis is celebrating its 45th year of recognizing the LGBTQ community. This year, the organization lost major funding due to federal pressures on corporations to drop their DEI initiatives. Attendees say this year’s festival is more special because the community stepped in to support it.