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September is finally here, and you know what that means: fall festival season! And around the Kansas City area, we’ve got events to celebrate all the autumnal classics: pumpkins, corn mazes, hot apple cider, spinach.
OK, maybe not everyone thinks of spinach. But, since 1982, Lenexa has celebrated its annual Spinach Festival to commemorate its 1930s title of “the spinach capital of the world.” (Truly one of the strangest claims to fame in the metro.)
This year’s Spinach Festival is on September 7 at Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park, and you better believe there will be spinach. You can try the world’s largest spinach salad or sample entries into the festival’s Spinach Dip Showdown or spinach recipe contest.
Johnson County K-State Research and Extension will hold several spinach cooking demos, so maybe they can teach you how to prevent all of your bountiful spinach from reducing down into a tiny pile when you saute it. Also, be sure to keep an eye out for the spinach mascot himself: Popeye will be wandering the festival along with Olive Oyl.
The event is free and family-friendly and will feature live music and children’s activities. There will even be a Swee'Pea Baby Crawling Contest at 11:15 a.m. that you won’t want to miss. While it sounds like a great opportunity to convert your children into spinach lovers, there will also be a food court with other non-spinach items.
Don’t worry, there’s plenty of non-green leaves to be enjoyed around Kansas City this fall, including classics like pumpkin picking and other mainstays like the Renaissance Festival. Hopefully cooler weather will be awaiting us.
If you can’t wait until October for Oktoberfest, KC Wine Co. in Olathe has you covered. Their 2024 Oktoberfest is also on September 7. In addition to German-style beers and brats, this 21+ event is also like an adults-only carnival. You can slide down a mega slide on an inner tube, race your friends on an adult tricycle, or pet a goat. Tickets are $20.45 and must be purchased in advance.
If you miss Oktoberfest, don’t despair — the Cider Festival at KC Wine Co is also 21+ and runs the following two weekends. Or, you can wait until KC Oktoberfest at Crown Center on October 4–5.
For a more family-friendly vibe, the KC Fall Festival and Pumpkin Patch opens in the same space in Olathe on September 28, and shares many of the same attractions (although with the addition of kids).
It runs every weekend through October 27 and will feature pumpkin picking, giant skeleton photo opportunities, and a corn pit. Tickets are $18.45 if you purchase online ahead of time, and kids 2 and under are free.
You can also partake in similar pumpkin-themed festivities in almost every corner of greater Kansas City.
There’s Faulkner’s Ranch in Raytown, Carolyn’s Pumpkin Patch in Liberty, Kerby Farm Pumpkin Patch in Bonner Springs, the Fun Farm Pumpkin Patch in Kearney, and one at the Louisburg Cider Mill, too.
If you want to participate in the other Midwestern fall tradition of getting lost amidst some crops, all of these spots also have a corn maze (except for Faulkner’s Ranch, which has a “crop maze” made of sorghum grass).
Liberty Corn Maze, adjacent to Carolyn’s Pumpkin Patch, is both family-friendly and a place where adults can cut loose. Each year the agritourism business uses GPS to cut several massive corn mazes. This year, the maze opens on September 13.
Before heading into the maze, adults can enjoy wine or a beer at the Grain Drain Saloon & Beer Garden, but you cannot bring alcohol into the maze. On September 20, you can even buy a ticket to the 2024 Sauced and Lost event: For $40, you get wine samples, a beer, and entrance into the maze.
While pumpkin spice has stolen the show in recent years, you can celebrate fall’s other favorite fruit (and yes, pumpkin is a fruit) on September 28 at Ciderfest at Louisburg Cider Mill or October 5 at Weston Apple Fest on October 5. Start your day at Ciderfest with a pancake breakfast in the morning, and then enjoy craft and food vendors, and maybe a pony ride (if you’re a kid).
Weston Apple Fest is held annually in Weston’s charming downtown, featuring a parade, live music, craft and food vendors, and of course, all things apple. Apple dumplings are a staple dessert item, or there are apple cider donuts, apple butter, and just plain apple cider. If you aren’t too full of apples, afterward head to Weston Bend State to view the fall foliage.
There is also no shortage of fall festivals in the area — and theoretically you could hit all of them this season without too much stress. Belton Fall Festival is September 13, and Blue Springs Fall Fun Festival is the weekend of September 20.
Waldo’s fall festival is on September 21, Liberty Fall Fest runs September 27-29 and the Overland Park Fall Festival runs September 27-28.
Briarfest IX on September 27–28 invites you to celebrate “Fall by the River.” This music festival takes place just north of the river at E.H. Young Park in Riverside, Missouri. The festival is headlined by classic Kansas City rock bands Shooting Star and Missouri and nationally-known country acts Shane Profitt and The Wilder Blue. You can also see dozens of other local and national performers during the festival’s two days.
The event is a benefit for the Mutual Musicians Foundation and the Briarcliff Business Partner Alliance, and last year it raised $250,000. General admission tickets are $25 for a day pass or $40 for the whole weekend, and kids 16 and under are free. In addition to your standard festival fare of food trucks and drink vendors, there will also be a hot air balloon!
For a fall festival with a historical focus, the Shawnee Mission Indian Fall Festival is on October 12. Shawnee Indian Mission is the site of a former Indian Boarding School that operated from the 1830s through the 1860s. The school bears a traumatic history, and the Shawnee Tribe and Kaw Nation have both contested the state of Kansas’ continued control and operation of the site.
This festival will detail the school’s operating period with reenactments, living history demonstrations, and covered wagon rides. Dancers from the Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, will also perform, drawing attention to the site’s Indigenous history.
If you can’t resist a historical reenactment, you can also head to Missouri Town Living History Museum in Lee’s Summit for their 1800s-themed Fall Festival of Arts, Crafts & Music on October 5 and 6.
While not a celebration of the season, the Kansas City Renaissance Festival in Bonner Springs has become synonymous with autumntime. Since 1977, the Renaissance Festival has served up historically-inspired fun like jousting matches and fire eating.
Where else is it socially acceptable to wander around eating a massive turkey leg? Every weekend now through October 14 you can don your best wench attire and head down for some old-fashioned fun.
Adult tickets start at $21.95 if you purchase them online beforehand ($25.95 at the door), and add your dog for $10. That’ll get you access to the sprawling festival grounds that feature everything from magic performances to a mermaid cove. Shop from among the artisan vendors, or simply grab a glass of mead and enjoy the show. Each weekend has a theme, so plan your trip accordingly — next weekend’s theme is “Fantasy and Fairies.”
Another September staple is Fiesta Hispana, which is Kansas City’s local National Hispanic Heritage Month event. The origins of the festival date all the way back to 1972, and it has evolved as a celebration to highlight the many diverse Latin American cultures in Kansas City.
This year’s festival is on September 13–15, and while it usually takes place at Barney Allis Plaza downtown, this year it will be held in the West Bottoms at the American Royal Facilities Kemper parking lot due to construction.
Each night will feature a large concert, including the Mexican Cumbia-inspired group Los Tigrillos, the 10-piece Tejano band LA 45, Mexican American singer Ricardo Castillon y la Diferenzia, and the group Conjunto Azabache. There will also be dance performances, food vendors, and children’s activities. Entrance is free!
In September, you can also celebrate Korean Culture Week at the KC Arirang Korean Culture Festival on September 28–29. The festival takes place across three separate locations.
On Friday, the K-Street Food Festival and Karaoke will take place at the restaurant CM Chicken in Overland Park from 6–10 p.m. This event is designed to allow people to experience Korean youth culture by drinking beer, enjoying Korean Yashik (late-night snacks) like fried chicken and hot dogs, and listening to K-Pop.
The next day the festival heads to the University of Missouri-Kansas City with a “Korean folk village concept” that will feature dance performances by the KC K-Pop Team from Chicago and Taekwondo demonstrations. At this family-friendly event, you can also eat Korean food and play Korean games. Admission is free, but you should reserve your tickets in advance here.
The final day of the festival is a Korean culture workshop where attendees can learn how to make kimchi, say basic Korean phrases, and do Taekwondo. The event takes place at Kansas Mission Church in Overland Park from 2:30–5:30. Tickets will be $20 and are not available yet, but check the festival website soon for updates.
