After the pandemic forced cancelation of the event last year, Prairie Village is gearing up for the return of Jazz Fest — the music festival that draws hundreds of jazz lovers from across the metro to Harmon Park each year.
The city’s Jazz Fest committee has been planning the Sept. 11 event since January 2020 said Meghan Buum, Prairie Village assistant city administrator.
Although it’s been “challenging to predict the evolving state of public health, vaccination rates and other items” in advance, Buum said the committee had a decade’s worth of successful festivals as guidance. Now, Buum said the committee is eager to bring the annual festival back to Harmon Park at 77th Street and Mission Road.
“The committee is excited to share world class jazz music with friends and neighbors, and gather as a community after a year where togetherness was so severely lacking,” Buum said in an email to the Post.
Still, Buum said community safety is the top priority, and city staff will monitor the state of public health to adapt the plan as needed. Jazz Fest is a ticketed event, and therefore crowd size can be controlled if necessary, Buum said.
The lineup
Here is a look at the musical talent the committee has secured for the 2021 event:
- Shawnee Mission East Blue Knights, the award-winning high school jazz band
- The Back Alley Brass Band, Kansas City, Mo.-based band
- Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle, another Kansas City-based band
- Adam Larson, the headliner for the event traveling from New York City
Music isn’t the only thing planned for the annual event, though. The Jazz Fest committee also secured several food trucks planning to be offering their fare at the event, including the following:
- CoffeeCake KC
- Taco Republic
- ButterFluff Popcorn
- Nikki G’s
- Taste of Brazil
