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Fall Flower show at Como Conservatory
Garden Guy Dale K. checks out the Fall Flower show on display at Como Conservatory.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Those looking for a coveted St. Paul park event dates or locations next year can now try their chance at a lottery system that will draw for 2025 permits.
What we know
Residents and businesses of St. Paul can enter a lottery system, from now until 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 18. Permits will then be issued beginning on Jan. 2, 2025, to those who entered.
According to St. Paul Parks and Recreation officials, the lottery system is used to give residents and businesses an equal opportunity to make reservations due to the high demand for certain dates and locations.
The lottery typically receives around 100 to 150 entries each year, according to officials.
Lottery luck
All entries received by the Dec. 18 deadline will be sorted randomly, with further instructions then given to entrants, according to a press release.
Only one entry will be accepted per resident – that can’t be transferred – and verification of a St. Paul address is a requirement for getting a permit.
On Jan. 3, permit applications will be accepted from all St. Paul residents and businesses that didn’t enter the lottery system.
Then, on Feb. 3, non-residents and online shelter permits will be open to the public.
City officials note that a separate Harriet Island lottery form is required to rent the Clarence W. Wigington Pavilion for an event in 2026 or Kelley’s Landing, Raspberry Island and Upper Landing Park for an event in 2025.
Options available
St. Paul offers several pavilions and picnic shelters throughout its park's system, including:
- Cherokee Regional Park (2 picnic shelters)
- Como Regional Park (1 picnic shelter, 1 pavilion, 1 event building)
- Crosby Farm Regional Park (1 picnic shelter)
- Hidden Falls Regional Park (1 picnic shelter)
- Highland Park (1 picnic shelter, 1 pavilion, 1 booya shed)
- Indian Mounds Regional Park (2 picnic shelters)
- Newell Park (1 picnic shelter, 1 event building)
- Phalen Regional Park (1 picnic shelter, 1 pavilion, 1 amphitheater)
The Source: Information provided by St. Paul Parks and Recreation officials