Belleville

Belleville, which is the location of the County Courthouse for St. Clair County, is known as the “Beautiful City” (French) With over 42,000 residents, it is the eighth-most populated city in the State outside the Chicago Metroplex and the most-populated city in the State south of Springfield due in part to its proximity to St. Louis (part of the St. Louis Metroplex) and its proximity to Scott Air Force Base. Better known as part of the Metro-East, Belleville is just minutes to many places of interest.

Belleville holds several fun events throughout the year, most notably:

Art on the Square:
St Patrick's Day Parade (March)

Ale Fest (April)
Art on the Square – (May) recently named the "#1 Art Fair in the Nation" by the Art Fair Source Book.
Memorial Day Parade (May)
Ainad Shriner's Circus Parade (1st Friday in June)
Wine Dine and Jazz (June)
Tour de Belleville (July)
Labor Day Parade (September)
Oktoberfest (September)
Chili Cookoff (October)
Santa Claus Parade (November)
Gingerbread Walk (December)
Christkindlmarkt (day after Thanksgiving through 23 December)

Downtown Belleville has many unique shops to frequent from printing company, jeweler, florist, salons, boutiques, spice shop, furniture store just to mention a few (Belleville Merchants). In addition to places to shop, there are many dining options as well from award winning BBQ at the BEAST Craft BBQ Co., with their much-talked-about candied bacon, grilled Brussel sprouts and other BBQ delights, to Papa Vitos for authentic Italian dining, to Seven Sushi Bar just to name a few. Local craft brews can be found at the 4204 Main Street Brewing Company along with great entrees and appetizers. Another great place to dine that incorporates Belleville’s heritage is the Hofbrauhaus with a great selection of German ales and food. Other interesting places to dine in Belleville include The Shrine Restaurant & Banquet Center and The Wine Tap just to name a few.

For more information on Belleville, check out the City website.