10 things to do in KC this weekend, September 15-18

Photo by Samantha Levi

Family Farm Opens at Louisburg Cider Mill

It’s hard to believe it’s that time of the year again when everything turns into pumpkin spice and things come alive at Louisburg Cider Mill. Starting this weekend, you can get your fall on. Venture through a ten-acre corn maze, explore ten acres of pumpkin patch glory, see a bee hive exhibit and let the kids loose on a giant swingset—there’s plenty to keep everyone entertained at the family farm. And you can’t forget the doughnuts and cider, hot or cold. 

Barn doors open on September 16, at 8 am. Louisburg Cider Mill.

Kansas City Underground Film Festival

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.

September 16–26. Times vary. Charlotte Street Foundation. Tickets

Fiesta Hispana 

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.

September 16–18. Friday, 11–5 pm; Saturday, noon–11 pm; Sunday, noon–9:30 pm. Barney Allis Plaza

Red Bull Imagination

For the first time ever, Red Bull Imagination will be open to the public to watch the nation’s top free riders compete in person. This freestyle motocross event will showcase an all-new freeride playground where Tyler Bereman and his friends will compete in a single-day competition to crown the winner. Red Bull Imagination is returning to Fort Scott, Kansas the third year in a row this weekend. This year, there are a few new things, including an event welcoming spectators for the first time and a broadcast set to air on ESPN+.  

September 17, noon–7 pm. The event will happen at a private course in Fort Scott, KS. Location to be announced.

Night at the Tower

A night of food, fun and entertainment returns to Liberty Memorial with an in-person Night at the Tower. Immerse yourself in the story of the Museum and Memorial at this year’s reimagined event and bid on some unique items that will support the museum’s mission to grow and reach a global audience.

September 17, 6:30–10 pm. National WWI Museum and Memorial. Tickets.

Mother/son

The Melting Pot Theatre begins its season with Mother/son, written by KC native Lewis Morrow and directed by Nicole Hodges Persley. Set in the midst of the Covid pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, it’s a dark comedy-drama about a mixed-race man and his white mother who’s in denial about her own racism and addiction.

September 15-17 and 21-24, 7:30 pm. September 18, 2 pm. Melting Pot Theatre.

New Dance Partners 

The ninth annual festival of contemporary and modern dance is back. Each night features performances by four local dance companies: Kansas City Ballet, Owen/Cox Dance Group, Störling Dance Theatre and the Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company. The “ultimate dance collaboration” brings four choreographers to Kansas City to create original works each year.

September 16–17, 8 pm. Yardley Hall in the Midwest Trust Center.

Collect-A-Con

Did you ever think you would see Vanilla Ice and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the same stage again? We did not see that coming, but it only makes Collect-A-Con much more exciting. This convention offers a space for people to nerd out over their favorite things and claims to be the nation’s largest trading card, anime and pop culture convention.

September 17–18, 10 am–6 pm. Kansas City Convention Center.

Tour de Bier

BikeWalkKC and Head for the Cure are teaming up for a day of cycling, beer and philanthropy. The social bike ride around Kansas City’s craft breweries and historic neighborhoods doubles as a fundraiser for safer streets and local brain tumor research.

September 18, 8 am. Berkley Riverfront Park and Riverfront Heritage Trail. 

Jesse James Festival

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.

September 16–18. Kearney. Full schedule.

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