In the past eleven months, the Old Orchard stretch of Big Bend Boulevard has gained a relocated restaurant, two new storefront businesses, a scheduled repaving and a festival plan that pushes onto a side street. Each change is small on its own. Taken together, they show a district outgrowing the one block it has always been known for.
The Merchant & Business Association of Old Orchard calls the district's heart the 8100 block of Big Bend, between Lockwood Avenue and Laclede Station Road. On Oct. 24 and 25, the Fall Festival will run past that heart in two directions at once. It will stretch down Big Bend from Dale Avenue to Summit Avenue, and for the first time it will spread sideways onto Log Cabin Lane.
The street was scheduled for new asphalt five weeks before the crowd arrives
The festival comes to a block that was just scheduled for repaving. St. Louis County contractors scheduled the resurfacing of Big Bend from Laclede Station Road to Lockwood Avenue for Sept. 16 through 18, weather permitting. The milling and paving were set for overnight hours, from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m., to keep lane closures away from school and business traffic. After a weekend pause, crews were scheduled to start on the side-street entrances at Dale Avenue, Oakwood Avenue and Old Orchard Avenue on Monday, Sept. 21.
The city hasn't posted a notice saying the side-street work is finished. If you cut through on Oakwood or Dale this week, expect some lingering construction.
The resurfacing covers Big Bend from Laclede Station to Lockwood, the stretch the association calls the district's heart. That's the same road the festival will fill on the last full weekend of October.
The festival map, with its new edges
The association's own description opens with "Autumn is coming back to Big Bend Boulevard." This year, the shape of the event is what's different.
| What | Where and when | New for 2026? |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor marketplace, 55+ vendors and regional artisans | Big Bend, Dale Ave. to Summit Ave., 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday | Bigger marketplace |
| Live music, 14 bands across both days | Two stages | Yes, first time with two stages |
| Festival hub with music, shopping and fall activities | Log Cabin Lane, between Big Bend and East Frisco Ave., closed to traffic | Yes |
| Cowboy Critters petting zoo | During festival hours | Returning |
| Business trick-or-treating | Saturday, Oct. 24, 3 to 5 p.m. | Returning |
| "Find the Ghost" bingo | Cards due by 3 p.m. Saturday for a gift basket drawing | Returning |
The bands announced so far are Jake's Leg, Voodoo Funky Butt Brass Band, The Brothers Lazaroff and the Webster Groves High School Jazz Band, with more acts still to come. Confirmed vendors include Crispy Sips, Glow Candle Co., Steele Caramels and Everyone's Republic. Food trucks Lomito Bonito and FarmTruk will park throughout the marketplace, alongside the district's own restaurants.
The association's festival landing page says "60+ Vendors," but the detailed vendor listing and the city's event page both say 55+. Plan around the lower number. For parking, the association's FAQ points to spots throughout the neighborhood and in designated areas, and says to check the festival map for updates.
Log Cabin Lane is the change that matters most. Until now, a two-stage festival with a larger marketplace would have had nowhere to go except further along Big Bend. Closing a cross street gives the event depth instead of just more length.
What has moved onto the block since last fall
The festival is growing for the same reason the district is. More businesses now count Big Bend as their address.
The biggest arrival was DD Mau. The restaurant closed at 20 Allen Ave. and reopened in a larger space on Nov. 21, 2025. The new spot is the former Weber's Front Row space at 8169 Big Bend. Sauce Magazine reported that the move came with an expanded menu. Weber's Front Row had announced in January 2024 that it would close its Webster Groves location after 32 years. That puts this year's festival on the first October with DD Mau anchoring the Big Bend end of the district.
Two newer businesses opened this summer, about a block and a half east of the 8100 block:
- Blackbird Yoga held its grand opening at 7930 Big Bend Blvd., Suite C, as the Webster-Kirkwood Times noted in its July 6, 2026 business notes. It shares the building with Bijoux Chocolates in Suite A and Blue Dahlia Designs in Suite B.
- The Only Facial opened at 7961 Big Bend, according to the Times' July 20, 2026 listing. Nearby at 7967 Big Bend, Amy's Cake Pop Shop and First House share an address.
Amy's Cake Pop Shop isn't new. St. Louis Magazine covered its brick-and-mortar opening in 2021. What's new is its role. The shop's spot is no longer a stop for the Webster Groves Farmers Market. For 2026 it has become Amy's Cake Pop Shop Makers Market. The market runs on first Sundays from May through November, and today, Sunday, Oct. 4, it's open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. On that schedule, one market is left before the season ends.
The 7900 block now has a yoga studio, a facial studio, a monthly makers market and a chocolatier. Those businesses get regular visits on ordinary weekdays, which a festival map can't capture. For decades, Old Orchard's lineup mostly meant restaurants and shops packed into the 8100 block. The newer businesses are filling in the stretch toward Lockwood.
A Saturday on Oct. 24, in order
Saturday has the most going on, and a few of the timed events overlap. Here's one way to fit it all in:
- Start at 10 a.m. with the marketplace. Pick up a "Find the Ghost" bingo card early. Completed cards are due by 3 p.m. for a chance at the gift basket.
- Walk the new section next. Log Cabin Lane, between Big Bend and East Frisco Avenue, is car-free for the first time and works as a second hub.
- Lunch at a restaurant or a truck. Lomito Bonito and FarmTruk will be on the street, and the brick-and-mortar options are listed below.
- Bring the kids back for trick-or-treating. Old Orchard businesses hand out candy from 3 to 5 p.m. Turn in your bingo card before trick-or-treating starts.
- Stay for music until 6 p.m. With two stages and 14 bands across the weekend, plenty of sets will play after the trick-or-treat rush.
Sunday has the same hours, vendors and stages, without the candy crowd. It's the better day if you want to browse at a slower pace.
Eating around the edges
A few addresses keep the 8100 block busy all year. The Annex, which St. Louis Magazine describes as a deli, bakery, coffee shop and gourmet food store, is at 8122 Big Bend. Its sister concept, The Frisco Barroom, is next door at 8110 Big Bend. This year's festival puts its artisans and makers behind The Frisco Barroom and Annex Coffee. Big Sky Cafe is just off Big Bend at 47 S. Old Orchard Ave.
St. Louis Magazine's dining guide, last updated in May 2026, lists Balkan Treat Box at 8103 Big Bend, Cravings at 8149 Big Bend and Chiang Mai at 8158 Big Bend. With DD Mau at 8169, festival-goers can get a full sit-down meal at almost any point between Dale and the east end of the block.
For browsing between meals, the association's directory lists Civil Alchemy at 8154, Dharma and Dwell at 8135, Forth and Home at 8137, The Little at 8143 and Papillon Press at 8130. The Novel Neighbor is at 7905 Big Bend. Music Folk at 8015 Big Bend has been in business since 1973, which makes it the oldest name on this list by a wide margin.
The other end of Big Bend is getting a park
Further east on Big Bend, the same push outward continues. At Big Bend and Oxford Boulevard, near Deer Creek Shopping Center, Great Rivers Greenway is turning a former McDonald's parking lot into Oxford Bend Park. On Oct. 2, the city said the park includes a nature exploration and play area, a pavilion, rain gardens and more than 30 new trees. It also gets an expanded path with skateable features, a bike repair station, a water fountain, benches and solar-powered lighting. The site is engineered to absorb stormwater along Deer Creek.
Great Rivers Greenway expects construction to wrap up in late fall 2026. The city hasn't announced an official opening date yet.
The park has a bigger job than its size suggests. It's designed as a rest stop for the Deer Creek Greenway and fills the gap between the trail's current endpoint and the extension through Maplewood to the River des Peres Greenway. Great Rivers Greenway says construction on that extension starts in 2026 but hasn't set an overall opening date. Once it's complete, Big Bend will have Old Orchard's shops and restaurants at one end and a regional trail connection at the other.
The park was also shaped by residents. More than 1,000 people weighed in on the plans, and the name Oxford Bend Park was picked from 130 suggestions submitted in summer 2024.
If you own a home near Old Orchard and want to know how a busier Big Bend could affect your property's value, Laura Sanders Team can walk you through it. Get your free home valuation, and see you at the second stage on Oct. 24.
