First Fridays in KC
If you ask a local to tell you about their favorite events to go to in Kansas City, they’ll probably mention First Fridays – a tradition on the first Friday of every month where thousands of people flock to the crossroads district for live entertainment, street vendors, food trucks, and, of course, a lot of art.
A newbie to Kansas City, I’ve been trying to soak up as much local flavor as I can, and honestly I heard everything I needed to after “food trucks.” So I made plans for a food truck crawl… like a bar crawl, except much more satisfying. Each will probably give you a stomachache but only one has fries.
The only thing that could ruin it? The unrelenting rain. My friends texted me the day of, sad that we couldn’t go because it was raining, “what will we do about the rain”? What about the rain? It’s out there, but so are the food trucks. So I did what every decent hungry pluviophile would – threw on a hood, grabbed an umbrella, and called an Uber.
I was anticipating crowds, long lines, tangible excitement buzzing in the air… the closer I got the more I could almost smell the food wafting towards me. Yet I pulled up to a street where the food trucks were, but the people were not. Why does everyone suddenly retreat when it gets wet outside? I think we all saw the Wizard of Oz too many times.
Once I had my fill of food trucks, I was eager to explore the food offerings at the galleries. However, I quickly found that while there were plenty of cheese and cracker assortments available, this part of the night was all about the wine.
Free wine.
So much free wine.
Is a stranger on the street asking me to come upstairs for free wine the adult equivalent of a candy man in a van? Yet I complied. At each art showing, I was immediately greeted with “red or white” before hello. Is this a strategy to encourage the purchase of $300 paintings of birds?
I think so.
There wasn’t much going on in the street, except a group of young gentlemen selling apparel saying “separado”- separate in English. I don’t get it either.
My favorite non-food, non-wine part of the night? A palm reading at Oracle, a unique shop I stumbled into with odd tidbits like snakes in jars and bones hanging from the ceiling. If you’re into that sort of thing, even if it’s just for fun, I would say it’s worth the $25 to have a stranger look at your hands and tell you you’re not eating healthily enough (how did she know??).
Overall, First Fridays and Food Trucks are a winning combination. I would recommend goat cheese fries covered in hummus and Bacon. Just be careful if you decide to ride around Crossroads in one of the scooters that now cover the streets of Kansas City, so you don’t fly off and faceplant like I did.
I blame the wine.