Kansas City will celebrate the Missouri Bicentennial this Saturday at the François Chouteau & Native American Heritage Fountain in the Northland. The free event will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the fountain site, 3904 Chouteau Trafficway, located between I-35 and M-210 Highway, just north of Parvin Road in Kansas City.
“The Chouteau Fountain site is a fitting location for the bicentennial celebration,” said Dick Davis, Chouteau Fountain Founders chairperson. “French pioneer Francois Chouteau is widely acknowledged as Kansas City’s founding father, having established the area’s first fur trading post on the bluffs of the Missouri River some 200 years ago.”
The festivities include Native American dancers, fiddlers and dulcimer players; fur trapping re-enactors; recognition of Missouri’s 200th anniversary by state and local dignitaries; the unveiling of the fountain’s newest bronze sculpture and the debut of a play, “Tartuffenthrope!“ by Kansas City playwright Philip blue Hooser. Additional activities include horse-drawn wagon rides, food trucks, youth activities and a plein air quick paint contest.
On-site donations and a silent auction will help benefit the completion of the Chouteau Fountain. All attendees are also invited to sign the official Kansas City Missouri Bicentennial Registry and receive a commemorative twig pen.
The celebration is supported by the City of Kansas City, KC Parks, Northland Neighborhoods Inc. and Missouri’s Bicentennial Committee. For more information, visit www.kcparks.org/mo200kc.
BLUFFS STAGE SCHEDULE
9 a.m. Beyond the Circle Native American Dancers
9:30 a.m. Dennis Stroughmatt, French Creole fiddle
10:30 a.m. MO Bicentennial Program
11 a.m. Tartuffenthrope! by KC Molière 400
11:40 a.m. Beyond the Circle Native American Dancers
Noon Folk in the Flow
12:50 p.m. Plein Air Award Presentation
ACTIVITIES TENT SCHEDULE
10 a.m. Starry, Starry Night puppet show
10:30 a.m. Workshop #1: Missouri Mule Mouth Puppets
11:30 a.m. Workshop #2: Paper Plate Puppets
12:30 p.m. Backyard Buggin‘ puppet show
Ongoing chalk art, roving puppets, giant bubbles, hula hoops, jugglers
