4th annual Future Stages Festival is June 25th at the Kauffman Center

Youth artists from the Kansas City Boys Choir perform on the Helzberg Hall stage at the 2015 Future Stages Festival.
Youth artists from the Kansas City Boys Choir perform on the Helzberg Hall stage at the 2015 Future Stages Festival. The fourth annual free community festival is Sunday, June 25, 2017 at the Kauffman Center. Photo by Sinjun Strom.

For the fourth year in a row, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is set to host the Future Stages Festival in the heart of downtown Kansas City. The FREE, one-day event showcases local and regional youth performers on four stages along with interactive art activities provided by community arts organizations. The festival has become a much-anticipated celebration of the performing youth in Kansas City and is scheduled for Sunday, June 25 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This year, the festival will feature 27 performing arts groups on four Kauffman Center stages. The line-up will include performances from the Metropolitan Strings Academy Orchestra, the Kansas City Ballet, Traditional Music Society’s Soundz of Africa Youth Ensemble, and Starlight STARS, to name a few. Last year, the festival brought together nearly 800 youth performers and 5,000 attendees. With steady growth since the festival’s inception, the Kauffman Center is prepared for even larger crowds in 2017.

Future Stages Festival is hosted by the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, but it wouldn’t be possible without the enthusiasm and support from organizations like the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Mattie Rhodes Center, KC Chalk and Walk, and Drum Safari that have signed on to help entertain festival attendees. The Kauffman Center community partners are ready to fill Brandmeyer Great Hall and the south lawn with all sorts of arts activities – from stage dueling and kite building to drum circles and cardboard cities.

Staff at the Kauffman Center have been preparing for this event for months – organizing performer applications, recruiting community partners, planning engagement activities, even buying sunscreen for visitors on the day of the event.

Future Stages Festival is a part of the Kauffman Center’s Open Doors Spotlight on Youth program that encourages the young people of Kansas City to take advantage of the performance and network opportunities available through the Kauffman Center. The Spotlight on Youth initiative offers a diverse set of engagements and programs that connects tomorrow’s artists, arts patrons, and arts administrators with the Kauffman Center’s staff and stages. Future Stages Festival supports the growth of future artists and invites people of all ages to experience the arts. Young audiences have the opportunity to engage with the Kauffman Center through diverse art forms.

The Kauffman Center celebrates Kansas City’s incredible talented performing youth on June 25 at the fourth annual Future Stages Festival. Doors open at 11 a.m. and there is fun to be had all afternoon. The festival is FREE and open to all. Come celebrate youth in the arts at the Kauffman Center!

 

Save the date:

4th annual Future Stages Festival

11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 25, 2017

FREE EVENT

Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

1601 Broadway Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 64108

RSVP for free at kauffmancenter.org/futurestages

 

Future Stages Festival is presented by Premier Partner:

 

Additional funding is provided by:

 

Additional support is provided by:

Future Stages Festival is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

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