The Kansas City area will celebrate a handful of free, history-rich festivals this weekend, as well as host a tour of the metro area’s urban farms.
Lenexa Spinach Festival
Lenexa is expected to welcome about 8,000 people to its spinach festival Saturday at Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park in Lenexa, Kansas, which was deemed the spinach capital of the world in the 1930s for its impressive spinach crops.
The festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring more than 80 vendors offering arts, crafts, antiques and more. Visitors can enjoy several food options, live music, cooking demonstrations and witness the world’s largest spinach salad. Attendees can participate in the spinach recipe contest and enjoy free samples from the contestants’ dishes around 3:30 p.m.
The following activities will be available for children at the festival:
Cane pole fishing and pedal boat rides from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Craft activities, inflatables, face painting, balloon twisting, strength tester and pedicab rides from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Baby crawling contest at 11:15 a.m., check-in by 10:45 a.m.
Rock skipping contest at 2 p.m.
The festival offers free admission and on-site parking is limited. Free parking is available at Lenexa Place Business Park, and free shuttles will run every 10 minutes from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Johnson County Old Settlers
More than 80,000 people are expected to celebrate the 128th Johnson County Old Settlers festival in downtown Olathe, Kansas, which runs Thursday through Saturday.
The event celebrates local heritage and history through free concerts, a flower show, creative vendors, carnival games and more. Kansas’ longest parade will fill Olathe’s streets at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Admission is free, but add-ons such as carnival rides or food cost extra. Visitors can park at Olathe North High School, and take a free shuttle to the event.
The festival’s upcoming hours are:
Friday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Raytown’s Festival of the Trails
Raytown’s Festival of the Trails will celebrate the 205th anniversary of the Santa Fe Trail and Missouri’s statehood at the Rice-Tremonti Home in Raytown, Missouri, Saturday.
This free and family-friendly festival allows visitors to explore and learn about Raytown’s unique connection to westward expansion through interactive exhibits, historical demonstrations, educational activities and hands-on experiences. Local historians will also share information about the Santa Fe, California and Oregon trails.
The Festival of the Trails is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with historical home tours, Buffalo Soldiers, the Windy Hollow Band and historical reenactments taking place throughout the day.
Urban Grown Tour
Locals can tour 15 of Kansas City’s urban farms between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday as part of the Urban Grown Tour. Visitors can learn about Kansas City’s local food system and sustainable growing practices from farmers who have found unique ways to grow food in the metro area.
(Urban Grown Tour map, courtesy of Cultivate KC)
The tour costs $10 per person, and is free for children 12 and under. The tour will take place rain or shine, and participants are encouraged to dress accordingly, with close-toed shoes recommended.
Fiesta Hispana
Fiesta Hispana, one of the largest and most successful Hispanic fiestas in the Midwest with more than 40,000 annual visitors, is this weekend.
Visitors can enjoy more than 75 professionally designed booths, children’s activities, youth outreach events and food vendors offering authentic Latino foods as part of the celebration.
The 45th annual Fiesta Hispana will be held at American Royal Facilities Parking Lot B in Kansas City Friday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday from noon to 11 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 9:30 p.m. Admission is free.
(Featured image courtesy of Lenexa Spinach Festival)
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