Festivals
No matter how you define the word “festival” it sounds like a lot of fun! If you’re visiting Overland Park for one day or several, there’s a good chance that there’s a FESTIVAL somewhere in the surrounding area. Here are a few opportunities to amuse, entertain and enlighten you!
PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVALS
Now in its 19th season of presenting FREE professional productions of Shakespeare’s plays, the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival is a family favorite. From June 14 – July 3, come see Macbeth, Shakespeare’s popular tragedy featuring creepy witches and bloody mayhem. The festival plays in Southmoreland Park, with free blanket and chair seating available. You can bring in a picnic and cooler as well. Reserve up-front chair seating and blanket space, available for $25 per chair or blanket space and enjoy delicious food catered by Brio Tuscan Grille.
The Kansas City Renaissance Festival is a theme-park-sized fair in Bonner Springs. In its 35th year, it runs weekends and holidays September 4 – October 17. The festival features a cast of over 100 actors who interact with visitors and perform sword fights, jousts and other shows on 13 stages. Vendors sell crafts and there are plenty of games for the kids. There’s also great food options, including turkey legs!
The Kansas City Fringe Festival offers live theater, dance, performance art, visual art, spoken word, puppetry, storytelling, film and fashion featuring local, regional and national artists at various venues throughout Kansas City in later summer.
The Kansas City Symphony performs all year long, but there’s only one performance of the Symphony in the Flint Hills. In mid-June there is a gathering, a coming together of art, nature and the kindred souls who appreciate them both.
ETHNIC FESTIVALS
The metropolitan Kansas City area is home to people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. The metro has a rich Irish heritage and an exuberant population of Emerald Isle descendents and fans! The Kansas City Irish Festival, September 2 – 4, fulfills all the requirements of the word “festival” featuring Irish music, dance, food, beer and arts for sale. There’s also an Irish Festival in nearby Weston each October and the granddaddy Irish event in Kansas City – the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Experience the three-day annual Ethnic Enrichment Festival in August featuring dance, music, food and crafts of more than 60 cultures or come to The Greater Kansas City Japan Festival in September showcasing Japanese arts, martial arts, food and music on the campus of Johnson County Community College. Kansas City’s metropolitan area is also home to a variety of Greek Festivals like the one hosted by St. Dionysios Greek Orthodox Church in Overland Park. Their 50th Annual Greek Festival June 17 – 19 will treat visitors to all things Greek, including food, dance and music. Lastly, the Kansas City Scottish Highland Games, June 10 – 12, challenges visitors to “come be a Scot, even if you’re not!” The event features sanctioned Highland Game events, sword fighting, bagpipers and more.
BARBEQUE AND JAZZ
If you’re “goin’ to Kansas City,” you won’t want to leave without eating some barbeque! The American Royal Barbeque – always the first weekend of October – is the largest barbeque contest in the world of showcasing over 500 teams competing for the glory of the championship title. Not to be missed! Other great barbeque festivals in the metro include The Great Lenexa Barbeque Festival that includes a kid’s competition and Rhythm and Ribs combining the power effects of barbecue and jazz in one unique event!
Jazz in the Woods celebrates 22 years of professional jazz and raising money for local charities. Presented by the Overland Park South Rotary Club at Corporate Woods the event includes food, drink and, most importantly jazz.
PLAZA EVENTS
The 80th Annual Plaza Art Fair will be in late September on the Country Club Plaza, featuring nearly 250 visual art exhibitors and a myriad of restaurant booths. The 82nd Annual Plaza Light goes on display the night of Thanksgiving and remains through mid-January. This beautiful light display begins with a hugely attended lighting ceremony with holiday entertainment, turning on the switch and a finale of fireworks! Water Fire is a unique, multi-sensory experience of music, fire and water in a moving art installation that features more than 55 floating bonfires on Brush Creek.
ART AND FASHION
Visual artists show their creations and offer them for sale at the Brookside Art Fair each year on the first weekend in May offering evening music performances, children’s art areas and food booths. Art Westport enters its 32nd year as a juried art fair offering all original visual art. The Town Art Fair – held at Town Center Plaza – features creations by award winning artists and proceeds benefit the Parkinson Foundation of the Heartland. The West 18th Street Fashion Show is an annual fashion show in Kansas City, held on a Saturday night in June. The event is free and showcases the work of 18 talented designers on 18th Street, which has become a hub of art and fashion in Kansas City.
FAMILY FRIENDLY
Visit Independence, for their annual Santa-Cali-Gon Days Festival, September 2 – 6. This free event features professional music entertainment, vendor booths and a community stage with a myriad of events and contests including a watermelon seed spitting contest! The 51st Downtown Overland Park Days and Fall Festival in September will include bands, artists showing their wares, kids activities and a Farmer’s Market. Old Shawnee Days features magic acts, a carnival, arts and crafts booths and a parade. The Lenexa Spinach Festival recalls Lenexa’s days as the “Spinach Capital of the World.” Held each year in September, the celebration includes pony rides, a quilt show, and a large sunflower competition. Jiggle Jam Family Fest is the Midwest’s largest family music festival hosted by Crown Center in late May. Nationally known children’s musicians perform along with puppeteers and family theatres and kids do art and music projects in interactive booths.
No matter when you visit Overland Park or the Kansas City metro, be sure to schedule sometime to take in one of the area’s great festivals and events!
Article By:
Sidonie Garrett
Producing Artistic Director
Heart of America Shakespeare Festival
