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π Our First Thursday Edition, π¨ Plaza Art Fair, π₯ 45 Bourbons in Parkville
Published about 1 month agoΒ β’Β 13 min read
Welcome to the first Thursday edition.
If you missed yesterday's note: the Friday newsletter got too big for Gmail to show in full, so we split it in two.
Thursdays are what to do, Fridays are what happened.
This one covers tomorrow through next Thursday, and it's a big week to start on.
The Plaza Art Fair turns 95, the Liberty Memorial lights up with a free light show, and Yo-Yo Ma is in town. β
β Top 6 Events: our weekend picks, from Liberty Fall Fest to Louisburg Ciderfest
π¨ Art Scene: the Plaza Art Fair and the 18th & Vine Arts Festival on the same weekend, the Liberty's Beacon debut, and the last weekend for the Nelson's Song Dynasty landscapes
πΈ Music Scene: 60 shows, including Gogol Bordello, They Might Be Giants, TLC with Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue, and Yo-Yo Ma with the KC Symphony
πΈ Nightlife Scene: Bourbon in the Park, Maz Jobrani, a free Chiefs watch party and a Halloween pop-up bar at a vineyard
ποΈ Whatever Day Scene: 11 holidays and observances this week, from the Harvest Moon to National Coffee Day, and how to celebrate each one in KC β
π¬ It's our first Thursday edition, so tell us how we did.Hit reply and let us know what you want more of, what we missed, or what you'd cut. The format is new, and your answers will shape it.β β
The news half (Round Up, Business, Development, Sports and RE) lands tomorrow at noon. See you out there.
β° Fri 5β10 PM Β· Sat 9 AMβ9 PM Β· Sun 10 AMβ5 PM
Cultural festival. The event moves to new gated grounds this year, with stein hoisting, a home brew competition, pony rides and a Sunday football watch party. $10 ages 10+, free 9 and under.
Fall festival. Fresh-pressed cider and donuts, bluegrass, craft booths and pony rides, plus a pancake breakfast both mornings. Free admission and parking.
KC FACT OF THE WEEK
π¨ Why this one, this week: The Plaza Art Fair opens its 95th edition tomorrow.
π§ It started in 1932, in the middle of the Great Depression, as a way to draw shoppers to the Plaza and lift their spirits. The first fair was held on an empty lot at the southwest corner of Nichols Road and Central. Artists leaned their paintings against trees and benches, and prices ran from $1 to $10. In 1977, the Sept. 12 flood devastated the Plaza just 10 days before the fair, and people pitched in to clean up so it could go on. Today it covers nine city blocks and draws more than 250,000 people.
The Plaza Art Fair takes over the Country Club Plaza, with artist booths along Nichols Road, Ward Parkway, Broadway and Central Street and free live music on the fair stages all weekend. It is the biggest fine arts weekend of the fall in Kansas City. Free, rain or shine.
ποΈ Fri, Sept. 25, 5 to 9 p.m. Β· Sat, Sept. 26, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Β· Sun, Sept. 27, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
More than 100 Black and Brown artists fill the Historic Jazz District under this year's theme, "Neo-Soul Fusion." Friday is Rock the Runway, a fashion competition with nine designers. Saturday is Live on the Vine, an artist showcase with finals that night. Sunday closes with Soulful Sunday and Brush Wars, a live painting battle.
ποΈ Fri, Sept. 25, 5 to 10 p.m. Β· Sat, Sept. 26, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Β· Sun, Sept. 27, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
π 1512 E. 18th St., Kansas City, MO 64108
ποΈ $10 day pass, $20 weekend pass, kids 13 and under FREE
Liberty's Beacon makes its public debut this weekend: light projections on the Liberty Memorial by three international light artists, set to music, for the WWI Museum's 100th anniversary. Opening weekend features French projection artist Xavier de Richemont. Watch from the North Lawn. The show repeats every 15 minutes and returns on weekends through Nov. 11.
ποΈ Fri to Sun, Sept. 25 to 27, 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.
π North Lawn, National WWI Museum and Memorial, 2 Memorial Dr., Kansas City, MO 64108
ποΈ β οΈ No ticket listed and the public is invited onto the lawn, but the museum never says "free." Confirm before calling it free.
Legendary Landscapes: Sublime Visions from China's Song Dynasty closes Sunday. The show holds 13 landscape paintings, nearly a thousand years old, in Gallery 222. Pieces this old and fragile rarely travel.
ποΈ Closes Sun, Sept. 27
π Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak St., Kansas City, MO 64111
ποΈ β οΈ Not confirmed whether it is free or ticketed
The Lyric Opera opened its season with Puccini's La bohème, and KC Studio called it "stunningly staged, sublimely sung." Friday is the last evening performance. The Sunday 2 p.m. matinee is listed in Music Scene.
ποΈ Fri, Sept. 25, 7:30 p.m.
π Muriel Kauffman Theatre, Kauffman Center, 1601 Broadway Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64108
Richard Karn of Home Improvement stars in The Hallelujah Girls at New Theatre & Restaurant alongside his wife, Tudi Roche. It is the strongest weeknight theater pick this week, playing Tuesday through Thursday as well as the weekend.
ποΈ Fri to Sun, Sept. 25 to 27 Β· Tue to Thu, Sept. 29 to Oct. 1. Dinner 6:30 p.m., curtain 7:35 p.m. Sunday adds a 12:15 p.m. matinee, Thursday an 11:50 a.m. matinee (curtain 1 p.m.). No Monday show.
π New Theatre & Restaurant, 9229 Foster St., Overland Park, KS 66212
ποΈ β οΈ Price not confirmed (pricing page labeled 2025-26). Saturday and the Sunday matinee show limited seats.
State of the Arts, the Prairie Village Arts Council's regional juried show, hits year 20 with the theme "Recollections" and adds photography and poetry and prose categories for the first time. The show opens Monday for People's Choice voting, and the awards reception is Wednesday night.
ποΈ Opens Mon, Sept. 28, through Nov. 13 Β· Reception Wed, Sept. 30, 7 to 8:30 p.m. (awards at 8 in Council Chambers) Β· Gallery open Mon to Fri, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
π R.G. Endres Gallery, Prairie Village City Hall, 7700 Mission Rd., Prairie Village, KS 66208
Akers, a painter and printmaker from the Osage Nation, gives an artist talk Thursday as part of Home Is Where We Are: Art of First Americans. Make a day of it: his work is also in Voices Now, a show of 15 contemporary Native artists at the Museum of Kansas City, paired with Homeland: The Osage in Missouri. The museum is open until 8 p.m. Thursday.
ποΈ Talk Thu, Oct. 1, 6 to 7 p.m., reception until 8 p.m. (livestream available) Β· Voices Now through Feb. 21
π Hudson Auditorium, Nerman Museum, JCCC, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS 66210 Β· Museum of Kansas City, 3218 Gladstone Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64123
The Unseen is the first show from the Nerman's undergraduate curatorial practicum, built around a work by Terran Last Gun, with paper as the common thread across textile, collage, drawing and printmaking. The museum stays open until 8 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
ποΈ Open Tue to Sun, Wed and Thu until 8 p.m., through Feb. 28
π Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS 66210
Free Weekend Fun: Mini to Monumental is a drop-in art activity in the Bloch Building lobby and Gallery 124. It kicks off with A Tale of Scale, a free shadow puppet show.
ποΈ Sat, Sept. 26, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Β· puppet show 11 a.m. to noon, Atkins Auditorium
π Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak St., Kansas City, MO 64111
Lie. Sit. Stand. Be Still. opened Aug. 28. This weekend adds two programs: an Art & Wellness session Friday afternoon and a free docent gallery conversation Saturday.
ποΈ Exhibition open Wed to Sun, Thu until 9 p.m., through July 25, 2027 Β· Art & Wellness: Inviting Surprise, Fri, Sept. 25, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Β· Docent conversation, Sat, Sept. 26, 1 to 1:45 p.m.
π Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 4420 Warwick Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64111
ποΈ FREE admission and docent talk Β· Art & Wellness is pay what you wish ($5 suggested), ages 18+, registration required
Twenty-Two Springs: Two Tone Press and KCAI Ceramics pairs 22 letterpress posters with 100 ceramic works, and marks the retirement of ceramics chair Cary Esser.
ποΈ Through Oct. 18
π KCAI Gallery, 4415 Warwick Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64111
AJJ w/ Destroy Nate Allen @ The Bottleneck, Lawrence | folk-punk | 8:00 pm | INFOβ
Lambrini Girls w/ Big Special, Big Girl @ The Granada, Lawrence | punk | 8:00 pm | INFOβ
NIGHTLIFE SCENE (18+)
π₯ Bourbon in the Park (21+). Sat, Sept. 26, 4 to 7 p.m., English Landing Park, 8701 McAfee St., Parkville. General admission $89.02 (fees included); online general admission sales end Friday.
π Chris Munch, Mother's Favorite Tour (21+). Tue, Sept. 29, doors 5:45 p.m., show 7 p.m. Kansas City Funny Bone, 7260 NW 87th St. (Zona Rosa). $32 to $42.
π€ Maz Jobrani (21+). Thu, Oct. 1, doors 6 p.m., show 7 p.m. The Comedy Club of Kansas City, 1130 W. 103rd St. Ages 18 to 20 are allowed at the 7 p.m. show only with a parent or guardian. General admission $40, preferred seating $50 (fees included).
π» Ghouls Pop-Up Bar at KC Wine Co (21+). Fri, Sept. 25, 4 to 9 p.m.; Sat, noon to 9; Sun, noon to 6. 13875 S. Gardner Rd., Olathe. FREE admission, no cover. Friday is "$5 Friday." Halloween cocktails, wine slushies and flatbreads.
πΆ R&B ONLY LIVE (21+). Fri, Sept. 25, 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., The Truman, 601 E. Truman Rd. A DJ-led R&B sing-along night, standing room.
π Doctor P with BAGZ, Sleeper and Nahte (18+). Sat, Sept. 26, doors 8 p.m., show 8:30 p.m., Warehouse on Broadway, 3951 Broadway Blvd., Westport. $28.50 advance (fees included).
Weβre building the ultimate library of local guides to help you experience Kansas City like never before. From art walks to foodie finds, keep an eye outβnew guides are dropping all year long. Download now, save for later, and share with a friend!
Got an idea for a guide you'd love to see? Weβd love to hear it. Reach out anytime at media@thekcscene.com.
Thatβs it for today! Wishing you an amazing week.
Your Guide to Living, Working & Thriving in Kansas City
KC Scene is your go-to, unbiased resource for everything Kansas Cityβwhere to live, what to do, and how to make this city feel like home. Whether you're moving in or moving up, weβve got you covered with real estate, development, lifestyle, and local gems.
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