Anything going on Labor Day weekend? (Kansas City, Independence: amusement parks, food, things to do)

[theweekend]

We're coming down for the Royals-Twins series over labor day weekend, so we're looking for something to do Saturday morning and afternoon.

This will be our 5th trip to Kauffman, and it remains my favorite park. I think Target Field is great in many ways, but you simply cannot beat the open feel of Kauffman. The signature scoreboard and fountains are done perfectly. There is a lot of leg room in the seats and there are few seats in each row, which means we rarely have to let people walk by us. Since Target Field was wedged into a small area downtown, they couldn't make the concourses wide enough for good traffic flow. They also jammed too many seats into fairly large sections, and the aisles are too narrow. Again, all because they were trying to fit so many seats into a small stadium. KC has done the suburban baseball park better than anywhere in the country. The trend is for downtown parks, but I'm happy to see KC continues to make their suburban park work so well.

Anyway, back to the point of my post....looking for something to do on Saturday. In past years we have done the zoo and the art museum.

I noticed that the top thread here has many pictures of areas where festivals may be going on at certain times of the year. Something like that may interest us (heritage festival, food festival, etc). Any ideas?

Thanks.

[luzianne]

Santa Caligon Days in Independence, Missouri Home
Renaissance Festival in Kansas City Kansas Kansas City Renaissance Festival!
Kansas City Irish Fest Kansas City Irish Fest | Aug 31 - Sept 2, 2012 | Crown Center
Liberty Memorial Labor Day Parade/Picnic and fireworks? - not sure http://www.ibew304.org/wp-content/up...structions.pdf

Probably something going on at Village West, which is near where the Ren Fest is. Not sure if there is a Sporting KC (soccer) or T-bones (minor league baseball) game that weekend. Also I'm sure there are things going on downtown in Power & Light and Crossroads Districts.

[kcmo]

Saturday morning, you have to do city market. It's a large urban market downtown and saturday mornings are very busy.

Renaissance Fest and Irish Fest are good options too. Not so sure about Santa Caligon Days. That's more like a county fair than anything. KC has better things to do, but if you are into low grade country music, crafts and carnival rides, you might like that.

Don't forget about the WWI museum, the Negro League Baseball Museum and the Steamboat Arabia museum, all good museums. Also, if you are into amusement parks, Worlds of Fun might be worth looking into.

We do a lot of ball parks (several a year) and I agree, Kauffman is one of the best. Have not been to Target yet, but I have heard similar things from people that have gone about it being cramped etc.

[rrast]

Irish Fest for sure!!!

[RadioSilence]

Most of my friends prefer Irish Fest, and Irish Fest is probably more central to wherever you're staying.

Sporting KC (soccer) is hosting Toronto on Sept. 1

[MrsMo]

Good Guys car show is at Kansas Speedway Labor Day weekend. Saturday is the best day to see all the cars