Festus is a city situated in Jefferson County, Missouri, United States, and is also a suburb of St. Louis.

[6] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.71 square miles (14.79 km2), all land.

[7] Festus originated as an outgrowth of older neighbor Crystal City.

It was established in 1878 by an individual named W. J. Adams, and was known as "Tanglefoot", supposedly because of situations involving drinkers from the local glass factory, who would drunkenly get their feet tangled in brush on their way home.

[12] The City of Festus was incorporated in 1888 and grew to be one of the largest towns in the county.

[13] One of the founders of Festus was John Brierton, the great-grand-uncle of John Bruton, the prime minister or Taoiseach of Ireland, who visited the city of Festus and his family's grave in De Soto, Missouri, in 1995.

[14][15] The 2020 United States census[17] counted 12,706 individuals, 4,765 households, and 3,229 families in Festus.

Of all households, 28.2% consisted of individuals and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Festus is home to a wide variety of religions, including Christians, Muslims, Pagans and Jews.

[21] The town is mentioned in the 1974 country song "(We're Not) The Jet Set," in which George Jones and Tammy Wynette sing about road tripping around the Midwestern and Southern part of the United States in a Chevrolet while falling in love.

[22] The Drunken Peasants podcast had a running gag in the form of a feud with Brett Keane, a YouTuber and resident of Festus.

[23] The feud involved satirizing and mocking Brett Keane, usually by referencing his speech patterns (such as his incessant use of the words "Individual", "Situation", and "Particular" and his frequent misquoting of common phrases), as well as creating many false personas under the guise of residents of Festus calling into the show and recounting fictitious, humorous encounters with Brett.

[24] Travis (chimpanzee), animal actor famous for mauling a woman.