@The Classic, Hotel Kansas City
Welcome, {{secret_name | Secret Reader}}
Three festivals happening this weekend, choose your own adventure!
🍸 The Weekend
Jazz Thursday: Two Tenor Tussle · Thursday, 7:00 PM
Free two-tenor set, no cover.
→ The Ship OG Lounge
Adam Galblum · Thursday, 6:00 PM
Solo jazz set at the Liberty jazz room. (Start time disputed — see notes.)
→ Johnnie's Jazz Bar and Grille
Kevin "Church" Johnson · Friday, 7:00 PM
Blues and soul in Lee's Summit's seated listening room.
→ 1909 Club
KCJO 5: "In My Jazz Era – KC Jazz Legends" · Saturday, 7:00–9:00 PM
A five-piece pull from the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra plays the distillery's art deco tasting room.
→ Tom's Town Distilling Co.
💃🏽 Date Nights
Jackie Myers Duo · Thursday, 6:00 PM
Early-evening jazz duo in the Raphael's lounge.
→ Chaz at the Raphael
Max Levy · Thursday, 7:30 PM
Saxophonist plays the basement room behind the Hotel Phillips' unmarked door.
→ P.S. Speakeasy
👨👩👧👦 Family Friendly
Kansas City Irish Fest · Friday–Sunday
Three days of traditional Irish music across multiple stages, whiskey tastings, and dance, headlined by Gaelic Storm and Scythian. Fri 5–11 PM, Sat 11 AM–11 PM, Sun 11 AM–10 PM.
→ Crown Center
Kansas City Renaissance Festival — Opening Weekend · Saturday–Sunday, 10:00 AM–7:00 PM
Season opener themed "Buccaneers and Ballgowns," 16 acres and 20 stages in Bonner Springs.
→ Kansas City Renaissance Festival
Santa-Cali-Gon Days · Friday–Monday
Free Independence Square festival marking the origin of the westward trails — wagon reenactments, nightly outdoor-stage music, Sunday's historic wagon parade. Fri 12–10 PM, Sat–Sun 10 AM–10 PM, Mon 10 AM–5 PM.
→ Historic Independence Square
From the Bar
Labor Day weekend starts with a parade — New York, September 1882, workers marching from City Hall to 42nd Street for a picnic and speeches. It didn't become law for another twelve years. Congress moved fast right after federal troops broke the Pullman Strike in Chicago. Making it official was as much a peace offering as a holiday. They picked the first Monday in September, and the rest is a long weekend!
But you’ve got Irish Fest happening. Crown Center gets three days of Gaelic Storm, Scythian, whiskey tastings, and plenty of bagpipes! Two towns over in Bonner Springs, the Renaissance Festival opens its season with "Buccaneers and Ballgowns" — sixteen acres, twenty stages, mead you'll regret and won't care. And Santa-Cali-Gon's been running Independence Square since Friday, with wagon reenactments and outdoor stages straight through the holiday, wrapping up with Sunday's wagon parade.
— I’ll see you at the bar ☾
Jay, SecretKC editor
🥃 Cocktail Destinations
✅ The Monarch Bar — Serious cocktails, serious energy — a clean handoff between dinner and the night. Still my favorite!
→ The Monarch Bar
🔲 The Mercury Room — Top floor of REVERB in the Crossroads, from the Monarch Bar team — skyline views, 9,000 LED bulbs overhead, jacket-leaning dress code.
→ The Mercury Room
✅ Voo Lounge — Prohibition-era room downtown with crafted cocktails and light bites. Closed Sunday through Tuesday.
→ Voo Lounge
✅ Prime Social — 16th-floor rooftop lounge at 46 Penn by the Plaza — fire pit, skyline views, built for conversation.
→ Prime Social
✅ The Blacklist — Victorian wine bar and speakeasy in Leawood's Mission Farms — bookshelf entry, Prohibition nods, moodier room in back.
→ The Blacklist
🔲 J. Rieger & Co. — The Hey! Hey! Club — An intimate cocktail lounge tucked beneath the distillery, a modern nod to the city's jazz-era nightlife. Open Wednesday–Saturday evenings, two-hour reservations.
→ J. Rieger & Co.
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