Boulevardia cancels 2021 music, maker festival; awaiting full COVID comeback before summer party’s return
March 16, 2021 | Startland News Staff
One of Kansas City’s premier summertime events — and the first major local festival canceled because of the pandemic in 2020 — won’t be back this June after all, organizers announced Tuesday.
“When the decision was made last year to cancel Boulevardia, we said, ‘The comeback is always stronger than the setback.’ This statement has been at the heart of our conversations as we planned for the 2021 event,” Boulevardia organizers said in a message to supporters.
The event is now expected to return June 17-18, 2022.
Click here to learn more about the multi-faceted Boulevardia festival, which includes concerts, a sprawling market, food, beer and more.
Although COVID-19 vaccination availability is beginning to surge across the country and some municipalities are relaxing restrictions on gatherings, the timing still isn’t quite right for a jump back to “normal” for Boulevardia — at least not at the level of quality organizers and summer revelers expect from the event, the statement read.
“Great strides have been made to overcome COVID-19 as a community. But we’ve decided that moving forward with a festival this June would not allow us to put on the BEST Boulevardia the way we all know and love,” organizers said.
Kansas City’s most recent COVID-19 restrictions were updated March 12 and run through at least May 1.
Click here to read the KCMO’s 13 amended emergency order.
Scant details about plans for 2021 Boulevardia had been released to the public ahead of Tuesday’s announcement.
In 2020, the festival had been planned along Grand Boulevard at Crown Center, where it had been expected to move this summer after six years in the Kansas City Stockyards District in the West Bottoms. The two-day “urban street festival” was set to feature music, makers, food and brews.
“When Boulevardia comes back, we want it to be the best celebration possible for our citizens, artists, partners, staff, and the entire Kansas City community,” organizers said in announcing the 2021 cancelation. “With that in mind, we’re focusing our efforts on ensuring our 2022 pop-up party nation is the best one yet. Boulevardia will be back when ALL of you can join us.”
2021 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Artist incubator paints scene of blissful collaboration in far-from-lonely West Bottoms space
Vanessa Lacy’s artist incubator eliminates “the lonely artist,” she said, noting her gallery model replaces solitude with creative relationships and a collaborative community. “Artists tend to get very isolated in their studio spaces working on their own; then they have a relationship with a gallery that’s really more of a business relationship,” said Lacy, owner…
Order here: Menufy online restaurant platform delivers results, food from OP startup
Servicing the online orders of more than 300 restaurants in the Kansas City metro, Overland Park-based Menufy is scaling its platform across the U.S., while maintaining a startup mindset, said Ashishh Desai. “Even though now we have over 4,000 restaurants nationwide — every state but Vermont and in 1,200 cities — we still have that…
Take the Kauffman survey: Is KC’s startup culture welcoming and inclusive to all?
Perception shapes reality, said organizers of a survey that seeks greater understanding of Kansas City’s startup culture. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s 2018 Entrepreneurship in Kansas City survey checks the pulse of the local entrepreneurial ecosystem by raising specific questions about culture and practice in workplaces across the metro, said John Quinterno and Julie Marks,…
Onward scores $1M grant from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative for payday loan end-run
Everyone needs a financial cushion, said Ronnie Washington — even a fintech startup offering low- to moderate-income workers a path to avoid predatory lending practices, the Onward founder said. A member of KC-based Fountain City Fintech’s inaugural cohort, Onward is one of 10 companies from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico being awarded $1 million…