Fall, Made Here: Kansas City’s September–October Calendar

Late September through October 2026 · Kansas City and nearby towns

A microphone on Armour Road. A kiln on St. John Avenue. A pumpkin carried out of a field in Belton. The useful starting points for fall are small and specific: a room to enter, a person making something, a date worth keeping.

September still leaves room for an evening out before the costume calendar takes over. October brings plays, farm weekends and workshops that ask for a little more time. A good month can hold both: an unplanned bakery stop and a Saturday already set aside for clay.

This AVIA AREE calendar gathers those choices in one place, with direct links to the people hosting them. Make one reservation, leave space around it, and give the neighborhood a few hours.

Cover: the RINO on Armour Road in North Kansas City. Photograph from the AVIA AREE archive; it does not depict the upcoming performance.

The calendar: September 28–October 31

All times are Kansas City/Central time. A listed theater run contains selected performances, not a show every day. Admission, weather and availability can change; use the organizer links before leaving. The add-to-calendar links open an event for you to save and do not buy tickets.

Date	What to put on the calendar
Mon, Sept. 28	Song Lab at the RINO. 7–10 p.m.; sign-ups at 6:30. Bring a song or listen. 314 Armour Road, North Kansas City. Add to Google Calendar.
Mon, Sept. 28	NoMad at the Blue Room. Featured set at 7 p.m., followed by the open jam. $10; American Jazz Museum members, musicians and students free. 1600 E. 18th Street.
Tue, Sept. 29	Q39 BBQ quiche returns at André’s. Seasonal availability begins; listed through Nov. 30, while supplies last. Order through the bakery.
Wed, Sept. 30	Swiss cheese fondue night at André’s. Four courses, $75 per person; wine and beer extra. Select a reservation time and await the restaurant’s acceptance. 5018 Main Street.
Fri, Oct. 2	SYMBIOSIS opening reception. 6–9 p.m. Imagine That KC’s collaborative exhibition at Zhou B Art Center KC. Free; advance RSVP encouraged. Add to Google Calendar.
Fri, Oct. 2	Faulkner’s Ranch pumpkin season opens. Book a dated ticket. Wagon rides, animals, seasonal food and prepicked pumpkins; check the ticket page for the day’s hours.
Sat–Sun, Oct. 3–4	Missouri Town’s 50th Fall Festival. 10 a.m.–5 p.m. each day. Traditional crafts, music and living history. $15 per car; $25 per van or bus. 8010 East Park Road, Lee’s Summit. Add to Google Calendar (Saturday); Add to Google Calendar (Sunday).

Date	October, continued
Oct. 6–25	John Proctor Is the Villain. KCRep’s Copaken Stage. Choose a performance time at the box office. Recommended for ages 13+; adult language, sexual-harassment and grooming references, and a brief suicide mention.
Sat, Oct. 10	FEMME RISING. 3:30–8 p.m., Copaken Stage lobby. Visual art, poetry, music, performance and vendors supporting femme-owned businesses. Confirm admission details with KCRep. Add to Google Calendar.
Oct. 14–25	Red Like Fruit. Hannah Moscovitch’s play at Unicorn Theatre’s Jerome Stage. Adult themes; select an individual performance through the theater.
Oct. 14–Nov. 1	Electric Poe at Union Cemetery. Public outdoor performances at sunset, ages 10+, approximately one hour. Choose an actual performance date and time; the run is not a daily schedule.
Sat, Oct. 17 & 24	Two-part Raku workshop. Back Door Pottery, 3922 St. John Avenue. Shape clay in the first session; glaze and fire in the second. Reserve both dates; confirm session times and price.
Wed, Oct. 21 & 28	More fondue evenings at André’s. Two October dates in the fall dinner series. Reservation acceptance is required; a calendar entry alone does not reserve a table.
Sat, Oct. 24	Fall Is in the Air candle workshop. 2–4 p.m. Blend and pour a candle in a ceramic pumpkin vessel. $50 plus tax and fees. 2045 Broadway, Suite 103. Add to Google Calendar.

Begin with a room and a song

The RINO’s Song Lab makes a Monday evening useful for both musicians and listeners. Sign-ups happen in person. The attraction is the stage itself: a chance to hear material while its maker is still testing it.

Across the river, NoMad opens the Blue Room’s September 28 jam. The featured set begins at 7, then other musicians can join the bandstand. These are two different ways of hearing local work develop, with a calendar commitment measured in an evening.

On October 2, SYMBIOSIS at Zhou B gives the month an opening reception built around Imagine That KC’s studio community. Let the visit begin with an individual work—its surface, materials and choices. The exhibition is an opportunity to learn artists’ names and follow what they make next.

Take the farm’s calendar seriously

At Weston Red Barn Farm, the country store and barnyard are available during the week; the September and October festival activities belong to weekends. Fall hours are listed as 9 a.m.–5 p.m. A weekday visit and a festival visit are different outings. Choose accordingly.

Johnson Farms in Belton supplies a more particular account of this harvest. The farm reports that earlier weather eliminated its U-pick vegetable patch this fall and summer heat affected the apple crop. Pumpkins are ready, while sunflower and zinnia blooms are expected to last until frost. Ask which apple rows are producing best. September 28 closes at 1 p.m.; hours change to 9 a.m.–6 p.m. October 12. All hours are weather permitting.

Kerby Farm in Bonner Springs runs Friday–Sunday through October 25: noon–6 Fridays and Sundays, 10–6 Saturdays. Admission is $8 for ages three and older, with pumpkins priced separately. The hayride and corn maze can carry the day without making the optional spook house its centerpiece.

For an October start, Faulkner’s Ranch opens pumpkin season October 2. Its pumpkins are already picked; the visit centers on activities, animals and the food stands. Pumpkin-spice doughnuts and cider slushies are on the seasonal list. Buy for the date you intend to go.

Missouri Town’s October 3–4 festival adds another reason to leave town: the chance to watch traditional work being done. Spend time with a craft demonstration. A tool in someone’s hand can explain a part of farm life that a decorative display cannot.

Fall at the counter

Seven Swans Crêperie’s fall menu gives apples two assignments. Brown Butter Apple Crisp takes the sweet route; The Vermonter combines caramelized apple with sausage and cheddar. It is a useful menu to consult when the same seasonal ingredient begins appearing everywhere: here, the choice changes the meal.

At Mildred’s South Plaza, the menu lists miso pumpkin soup alongside pumpkin cheesecake loaf. White miso gives the soup a savory direction. The soup was marked out of stock when checked September 27; check again before making it the reason for a trip. The loaf and seasonal drinks offer other ways into the menu.

André’s returning Q39 BBQ quiche brings smoked brisket into a custard with Swiss cheeses. Its listed season starts September 29. For a longer evening at the table, the bakery’s four-course fondue dinners continue September 30 and October 21 and 28. A reservation request must be accepted by the restaurant. Leave enough time for the meal.

Bring home something you helped make

Back Door Pottery’s October Raku workshop asks for two Saturdays. The interval matters: the piece made on October 17 returns to the kiln on October 24. This is a plan with a second chapter already attached.

The October 24 workshop at Heaven Scent Collective works on a smaller scale: choose and blend a fragrance, then pour a candle into a ceramic pumpkin vessel. At home, the object carries the decisions made during the afternoon.

For a ready-made purchase, Harmony Lane’s fall collection includes Cider Night, Harvest Moon and Sugared Pumpkin Butter. Browse the maker’s own shop for current stock and delivery options. Small seasonal purchases are also a way to begin following a local business beyond a single holiday.

History before dark, suspense a little later

September 28 has an exact local connection. The State Historical Society of Missouri’s collection guide records John Calvin McCoy’s birth on September 28, 1811, his role in founding Westport and the early Town Company of Kansas, and his burial at Union Cemetery.

That supplies a reason for a daylight walk through Union Cemetery. Read names and dates; notice how a city’s early geography survives in its burial ground. The visitor center is closed Monday–Wednesday, and some paths are uneven. Check seasonal grounds hours before going.

The Alexander Majors House on State Line Road offers a former farmstead with stories attached. Regular May–October weekend visits are 1–5 p.m.; other times require an appointment. The museum offers ghost-story programming, but those accounts are folklore, not established evidence of haunting. Its documented history also includes enslavement and the likelihood that enslaved people helped build the house. An old property deserves that fuller account.

In October, Electric Poe places an actor and musician outdoors at Union Cemetery. Its public cemetery run begins October 14; the earlier September dates belong to a school edition. Keep that distinction when booking.

For indoor theater, John Proctor Is the Villain and Red Like Fruit turn toward women’s voices, authority and the telling of a life. Both belong to the adult end of this calendar. Check each production’s content guidance and select a performance that leaves time to talk afterward.

A ticket can be kept in a coat pocket. A piece of fired clay will need a place on the shelf.

Researched September 27, 2026. Dates and practical details come from the linked organizers, businesses and historical institutions. This is a reported planning guide, not a firsthand review of the listed events or dishes.