Lenexa Spinach Festival
Lenexa Spinach Festival. September 10. 9 am–4 pm. Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park, 87th Street Parkway & Lackman Road. Free. lenexa.com.
Believe it or not, Lenexa was once known as the Spinach Capital of the World. Today, Popeye would surely be disappointed—unless he happened to sail in during the city’s annual celebration of its history.
Lenexa earned the label “thanks to a really amazing crop of spinach during the Great Depression during the times of drought,” according to Susanne Neely, the face behind the festival for the past ten years. Legend has it a “buyer from Chicago came to the Kansas City market looking for quality spinach” and was so “delighted” to find the quality product available in Lenexa that he bought as much as they could grow, rebounding their economy.
Popeye and Olive Oyl make an appearance, dressing the World’s Largest Spinach Salad, served in a bowl “the size of a kid’s swimming pool.” Festivalgoers compete in spinach recipe competitions, with dessert inviting some particularly innovative creations. Rock skipping, balloon artists, pedicabs and face painting provide a classic fall festival atmosphere. —Liz Schroeder
Kansas City Irish Fest
September 2–4. Crown Center. kcirishfest.com.
Dedicated to bringing “the heart of Ireland to the Heart of America,” Kansas City Irish Fest is a culturally immersive experience. Sample Irish shiskeys or relax with a glass of Guinness. Irish Kansas Citians are also able to explore their Celtic roots with the help of genealogists on site. Make no mistake: If you don’t have the slightest knowledge of Irish culture, there is no better place to learn. Take a ceili dance class, learn a Gaelic phrase, or even uncover the history between Ireland and America.
SantaCaliGon Days Festival
September 2–5 . Independence Square. santacaligon.com.
The region’s oldest and largest festival celebrates the heritage of Independence as the origin of the Santa Fe, California and Oregon trails, which facilitated westward expansion by early pioneers. The celebratory festivities include live music, carnival rides, food, drink, and craft vendors, plus Main Street 1849—which gives a glimpse of Independence’s past with a frontier jail cell, gold panning, pioneer reenactors and other historical fun.
Renaissance Festival
Weekends from September 3 to October 16. Mapt to and park at Azura Amphitheater. kcrenfest.com.
Mid-America Festivals’ Renaissance Festival began in 1977 as a benefit for the Kansas City Art Institute and has since become a juggernaut in the world of medieval events, with an annual attendance of over two hundred thousand people. The festival now includes theme weekends like Swashbucklers & Sirens and Wine, Chocolate & Romance, but it hasn’t forgotten its fan favorites—jousts and turkey legs.
Johnson County Old Settlers Festival
September 8–10. Downtown Olathe, johnsoncountyoldsettlers.com.
Keep Johnson County’s oldest traditions alive at the Old Settlers Festival. Go to learn about Olathe’s history dating back to 1898, or just go for the free concerts. While maintaining some common elements of a county festival, like carnival rides and food vendors, Old Settlers also has an ice cream social, a flower show and a “gab fest” for members of the community to sit and chat about its past, present and future.
Jesse James Festival
September 9–10 and 16–18. Kearney. jessejamesfestival.com.
This multi-day, multi-weekend event in Kearney celebrates the rag-tag rebellious history of small-town Missouri with a parade, carnival, fishing tournament, “agricultural magic show,” festival dances, a rodeo with “mutton busting” for the children, demolition derby and, somehow, more.
Art Westport
September 9–11. Westport. westportkcmo.com/artwestport.
The event touts itself as the “largest visual art show that exclusively showcases juried, high-quality Kansas City-regional artists’ work” in the only outdoor art show in KC. Over a hundred and fifty artists showcase and sell their original art, handmade jewelry, artisanal crafts and other goodies on the streets of Westport.
Greek Festival
September 9–11. Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church. greekfoodfest.org.
The sixtieth annual Greek Festival celebrates Greek culture and food. There’s traditional Greek dancing, an Orthodox church service, tours of the church and Greek food favorites like gyros, souvlaki and baklava.
Celebrate Ameri’kana Music and Arts Festival
September 10. Grinders. celebrateamerikana.com.
This family-friendly event is a free block party during the day and a ticketed concert at Grinders at night. It features national, local and youth performers, including Making Movies and Los Lobos, to celebrate the Black, Indigenous, immigrant and Latino heroes of American music.
Fiesta Hispana
September 16–18. Barney Allis Plaza. kcfiestahispana.com.
This free two-day event celebrates Hispanic culture with live traditional music and dancing, each country’s best cuisines, and various informational and cultural exhibits.
Kansas City Underground Film Festival
September 16–26. Charlotte Street Foundation. kcundergroundfilmfest.com.
This ten-day festival aims to bring “unseen and underappreciated films” to KC and share the love of film with the community by screening independent films of any genre—action, sci-fi, horror, drama, comedy, romance, thriller, low-budget or no-budget. There are also awards for the festival screeners and talks with creators and the audience.
Overland Park Fall Festival
September 23–24. Downtown Overland Park. opkansas.org.
The fall festival tradition is alive and well in Overland Park, where people have celebrated the autumn season for over sixty years. Live music kicks off the festival on Friday night, along with extra heat from flame artists. Saturday is packed full of family-friendly fun, featuring food trucks, local artisans and three stages of performers.
Lee’s Summit Oktoberfest
September 23–24. Downtown Lee’s Summit. lsoktoberfest.com.
Oktoberfest in Lee’s Summit announces the beery beginning of fall with bratwurst and steins of homebrew. German-inspired appreciation is on the menu, with a biergarten, a wagon parade, “stein hoisting,” and a home brew competition—with tastings available, of course. Other fair fare includes an arts and crafts festival, carnival rides and a petting zoo with pony rides available.
Plaza Art Fair
September 23–25. Country Club Plaza. plazaartfair.com.
The Country Club Plaza’s signature fall event features nine city blocks of art from two hundred and forty artists. A quarter of a million people typically make their way through the event, which has been around for ninety years, having been started during the Great Depression as a way of lifting spirits and giving artists space to promote their work. Today’s fest is juried, with the participating artists having been selected by local experts.
Liberty Fall Fest
September 23–25. Liberty Square. libertyfallfest.com.
Now in its forty-fifth year, Liberty’s Fall Festival dishes out something for everyone. All three days of this festival are packed with live music, carnival rides, a parade and artisanal booths from local artists. The young and young-at-heart compete in a yearly chalk art contest where, no matter who wins, the streets of Liberty are left a little more beautiful.
Ciderfest
September 24–25 and October 1–2. Louisburg Cider Mill. louisburgcidermill.com.
Louisburg Cider Mill’s red barn and avalanche of apples is an icon of autumn in Kansas. The Mill stays busy throughout the fall, but for two weekends there is a full slate of programming including live Americana music, pony rides, craft booths and cider pressing. The cider is fresh-pressed and served hot or cold upon request—a nice touch given the sixty degree swings in weather this time of year.
Oktoberfest
October 7–8. Crown Center. kcoktoberfest.com.
Modeled on Munich, but actually in October instead of September (hey, fall comes a little later here). Revelers at this traditional-ish festival will hoist nearly forty thousand steins of lager, all made with imported hops and grains. KC Bier Co., the largest locally owned brewery in KC, is the host and pours a half-dozen different beers ranging from a traditional festbier to a double dry-hopped IPL for the hopheads. The live music lineup includes multiple polka acts, natch.
Weston Applefest
October 1–2. Downtown Weston.
It seems like everyone in KC is looking for an excuse to make it up to the hills of Weston this time of year. Let Applefest be that excuse—a parade down the quaint Main Street rolls at 10 am on Saturday, followed by two days of craft vendors, food vendors, games for the kiddos and a variety of entertainment. Parking downtown is a challenge for Applefest, but you can park at the Weston Historic Orchard or Snow Creek Ski Area for $10 and catch a shuttle.