Summer is always over a little sooner than you hope.
Last year, the season ended abruptly for my 3-year-old daughter at her favorite place in the city: the splash pad in Loose Park. All summer long, we hit the park pretty much every afternoon. On the final weekend, we showed up before they were scheduled to turn on the water for the final time only to find the splash pad was closed due to a maintenance issue.
Just like that, summer was over — put on your mittens, and get out the sled.
As you read this, the Loose Park splash pad is starting to burble again after a long winter hibernation. In early June, you’ve still got a long stretch of sweet, sticky heat in front of you. The coals are starting to turn gray on your grill. Swimming pools are just now getting to the right temperature. Royals fans still dream of winning the 2019 World Series.
We want to help you enjoy those fleeting sunny days with this month’s issue. For our annual Summer Guide, we compiled Kansas City’s ultimate summer events calendar. If you flip through the calendar, you’ll find something fun to do every single day between June 1 and Labor Day. That’s 94 days of hot dogs, chilly lakes, shady patios and movies in a grassy park. We’ve sought to include the very best shows, festivals and fun activities in the city all summer long. Many are free, and all but a handful are broadly accessible.
After spending months working on this calendar, we’re still in awe of how much there is to do in Kansas City this summer — everything from the monster truck rally at Arrowhead (June 14) and the long-awaited coming of the Broadway smash Hamilton (June 18) to picking peaches (Aug. 6) and a free tour of the night sky at the astronomical observatory on a local college campus (Aug. 23).
Also in the calendar, you’ll find some fun features such as a decision tree for picking the perfect local lake for your preferred activities, a story about the odd preponderance of Stonehenge-like structures in this neck of the woods and our definitive ranking of every ride at Worlds of Fun.
Summer in Kansas City is a special time — a chance to enjoy the bounty of this place while making lifelong memories with your friends and family. We hope this issue helps you wring just a little more joy out of these three
precious months.
If you’re really feeling ambitious, you can try to run the table on our massive calendar. We’d love to see you out enjoying these activities. Tag us with #94DaysKC on Instagram, and we’ll make it worth your while.
Facts by the numbers:
▶︎5 Years since armadillos started appearing in Jackson County.
▶︎$50 Fee for a backcountry hike at the newest state park in Kansas.
▶︎2x The number of teen vapers has doubled in the past year.
▶︎63 The number of hits written by the songwriting team credited with composing “Kansas City.”
