Sugar Creek Slavic Festival
Sugar Creek, a small town just north of Independence, celebrates Slavic culture in a big way with its annual Sugar Creek Slavic Festival. This year is the 35th anniversary of the tradition, which is a two-day celebration of Slavic heritage with foods like sarma, kolache and kielbasa, and performances of kolo or polka. There will be traditional dance groups like Ukraine Dancers and Sugar Creek Ethnic Dance Troupe alongside musical groups like the Brian McCarty Band and the Baric Brothers. Toast with a shot of Slivovitz and watch a cabbage roll contest—which you’ll just have to see.
Friday, June 10, 5–11 pm and Saturday, June 11, noon–11 pm. Mike Onka Community Hall, Sugar Creek.
KC Charcuterie Fest
Spend the afternoon in stunning vineyards while snacking on charcuterie provided by Alma Creamery. Meat, cheeses, fruit and dessert will be paired along with favorites from KC Winery. If that isn’t enough, there will also be large-scale adult yard games, pre-set mini charcuterie boards, food trucks and their full lineup of wines, hard ciders and frozen treats.
Saturday, June 11, 12 pm. KC Wine Co.
Tech N9ne
Tech N9ne’s ASIN9NE Tour 2022’s brings the penultimate show of the short tour to his hometown, Kansas City. He’s offering VIP packages which include hundreds of dollars in merchandise and a meet and greet. The show will feature Tech N9ne with special guests Joey Cool, X-Raided, and ¡Mayday!
Saturday, June 11, 7 pm. Arvest Bank Theatre.
Shinique Smith Artist Talk and Live Performance for Juneteenth
Artist Shinique Smith is coming to Kansas City for a live performance and artist talk in celebration of Juneteenth. Smith’s multidisciplinary works have been featured in prestigious museums such as Brooklyn Museum and LACMA. “Breathing Room: Evocation” is a performance taking place at the Nelson-Atkins on June 11, that builds on her film Breathing Room, which is an essential part of the exhibition, STARGAZERS, currently on view at the Nerman Museum. “Evocation is an extension of my ongoing Breathing Room projects which have served as an exchange between performers, audience and myself to provide space to revere Black people, ancestors and ourselves through breath and focused intention,” says Smith.
Artist Talk, Friday, June 10. 6–7 pm. Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. Performance, Saturday, June 11, 11–11:40 am. Atkins Auditorium, The Nelson-Atkins. Exhibition, now-July 31. Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art.
KC PrideFest
The weekend festival celebrates the LGBTQ+ community in Kansas City, featuring a main stage with various local acts, vendors, food trucks, a Pride Parade, family activities and specials from local Westport restaurants and bars.
Friday, June 10, 5–10 pm. Saturday, June 11, 12–10 pm. Sunday, June 12 11 am–5 pm. Theis Park.
KC Pride Parade
Celebrate pride month in Westport at the Kansas City Pride Parade. The parade starts in the heart of Westport, and many local businesses are opening early and providing discounts and specials to celebrate the history of LGBTQ+ people in Kansas City and beyond. Ten restaurants and bars are offering specials on food and drink, including Char Bar and Port Fonda. There will also be viewing parties at places like Fountain Haus.
Saturday, June 11, 11 am. Westport Rd. & Pennsylvania Ave.
Unbreakable: A New Musical About Queer History
Heartland Men’s Chorus presents Unbreakable, from Tony Award-nominated composer Andrew Lippa, whose work includes I Am Harvey Milk and The Addams Family. It is a musical tribute to the experiences of LGBTQ+ people over the past 12 decades, showing the evolution and endurance of the queer community as they look to create a better world ahead.
Saturday, June 11, 8 pm. Sunday, June 12, 4 pm. The Folly Theater.
Pilates on the Rooftop
Enjoy breathtaking views on one of Kansas City’s favorite rooftops, Percheron, at the Crossroads Hotel along with a 45-minute pilates workout instructed by Steph Kemna from Pilates of Kansas City. After, head down to XR bar and enjoy a complimentary cocktail to celebrate yourself for getting centered instead of getting brunch on a Sunday morning.
Sunday, June 12, 10 am. Crossroads Hotel.
Tivoli Under the Stars
Tivoli Under the Stars is back for its second season, meeting every Friday night to screen a different film. Each ticket purchase includes an eight-foot “pod” of dedicated Nelson Atkins lawn that seats up to four people (five if the fifth is a child under three years old), movie tickets for four, museum admission for four, and garage parking for two cars. Food and drink are available from the Walking Snack Bar. Curated by Jerry Harrington, Tivoli Under the Stars is committed to continuing the legacy of Tivoli Cinema in a new outdoor setting.
Friday, June 10-Friday, July 29. Showtimes vary. The Nelson-Atkins. See more info here.
Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow
Starting this Friday Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow, a new and haunting exhibition highlighting the decades between emancipation and the age of Jim Crow, will be on display at the National WWI Museum. The exhibit comes from the New-York Historical Society and has been enhanced by items from the WWI Museum’s collection. “This exhibition is important and relevant especially in light of the Buffalo shooting last week,” Karis Erwin says. “It’s disturbing, and we want people to sit with that and think.”
Through Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022. The Wiley Gallery at the National WWI Museum and Memorial.
Theatre in the Park
A tradition with fifty years of history, Johnson County’s annual Theatre in the Park series at Shawnee Mission Park is always one of the most popular family events of the summer in KC. This year, as usual, they’ve scheduled five populist musicals, starting with an adaptation of the comedy Something Rotten from June 3-11 and continuing with Disney’s Descendants: The Musical, School of Rock and Zombie Prom before winding down with Spongebob: The Musical, which closes on August 6. A regular adult ticket for open lawn seating is just $10 and is good for the run of each show. Line up to get a prime spot on the lawn starting at 7:30, or arrive for curtains at 8:30 pm.
Various days and times. Shawnee Mission Park. More info here.
