KSHB 41 News reporter Braden Bates covers parts of Jackson County, Missouri, including Lee's Summit. Send Braden a story idea by e-mail.
The Crossroads Arts District is expanding its popular First Fridays event beyond a single night each month, scheduling five weekend-long event to coincide with the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Jeff Owens with the Crossroads Community Association said the events will be market-style similar to that of First Fridays with local vendors and businesses represented.
"The World Cup, we're gonna have over 300 small businesses participating in, in that celebration," Owens said.
The expanded events will feature paintings, pints, and hand-crafted pieces from local makers and artists throughout the neighborhood, even welcoming other neighborhoods and city artists to participate.
"A lot of artists make their, a lot of their living expenses just from First Friday. So, this will be an opportunity to increase their income during World Cup. And we're reaching out further than we ever have before. So we have like a four state region that's gonna be bringing in artists," Owens said.
Alessandra Dzuba, an artist and taxidermist whose natural sciences business finds beauty in the macabre. She said the Crossroads neighborhood itself functions as a work of art, showcasing various forms.
"I feel that it's almost like a collective. We all kind of collaborate. We all support each other. It's most of the businesses here are makers and artists beyond the storefront," Dzuba said.
Dzuba said the World Cup spotlight on Kansas City is a natural fit for the district.
"It's really exciting to get that celebration of all the really cool unique and odd artist things that Kansas City provides,"Dzuba said.
Kyle Howard, who operates a locally focused craft beer business in the district, said he is working on ways to incorporate the World Cup. He hopes visitors drawn to Crossroads will discover what local makers have built.
"Hopefully people are looking to get a, you know, an experience of the local scene, and that's what we focus on is locally made craft beer," Howard said.
"I think it's an exciting opportunity, to showcase to the world what we do here in Kansas City," he said.
Owens said the five-weekend expansion could serve as a test run for future growth of the First Fridays expansions. He noted the event already draws a significant crowd on a regular basis.
"Last First Friday we had 20,000 people come for First Friday," Owens said.
Schedule and hours:
- June 12 -14
- June 19 - 21
- June 26 - 28
- July 3 - 5
- July 10 - 12
HOURS:
Fridays 5 - 11 p.m.
Saturdays 12 p.m. - 11 p.m.
Sundays 12 p.m. - 11 p.m.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI.Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
