Memorial Day weekend in Kansas City offers opportunities to celebrate the true reason for the holiday with family friendly events. For additional weekend activities, be sure to check our community calendar!
National WWI Museum and Memorial Events (May 22-25)
Admission Discounts
Free General Admission for veterans/active-duty military; spouses and dependents with ID. Half-price General Admission for the public. Get tickets.
Featured Exhibits
World War I Research Stations
Find your connection to World War I during Memorial Day weekend through research stations at the Museum. With access to multiple databases including Fold3.com, Ancestry.com, the Museum and Memorial’s online collections database, the American Battlefield Monuments Commission and the National Archives, discover how the Great War affected your family through records, photographs and much more. FREE to the public.
Flags of Forgotten Soldiers Display
The Department of Veterans Affairs reports that every 72 minutes, a service member takes their own life. This moving display of 140 U.S. flags calls attention to the fact that 140 veterans are lost to suicide every week.
Vietnam Era Bell UH-1 Iroquois “Huey” Helicopter Display
The Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter #243 will provide an iconic Bell UH-1 Iroquois “Huey” helicopter for people to climb aboard and inspect in the U-shaped Drive.
Service Flag Display
These flags represent the involvement of U.S. military divisions in the WWI, WWII, Korean and Vietnam wars, as well as other more recent military conflicts. Unit colors were originally used to mark location through the smoke of battle. Not needed for that purpose since the Civil War, colors now have symbolic meaning embodying the history and heart of each unit.
Metcalf Avenue of Flags
We raise over 350 flags along Metcalf Avenue six times a year. The Overland Park Lions Club does this as a patriotic service to our community and as a fund raiser for service activities. Local Boy Scouts, members of the Military Officers of America Association and Hy-Vee employees assist the Overland Park Lions Club with the raising and lowering of the flags.
Post-Game Fireworks at KC Monarchs (May 22)
Enjoy a fireworks display after the KC Monarchs game on Friday! Check out our guide before you head out for making it a great night at Legends Field.
Celebration at the Station (May 24)
Kansas City’s favorite Memorial Day tradition! Join Kansas City PBS and the Kansas City Symphony for Bank of America Celebration at the Station. The Kansas City Symphony performs iconic patriotic works by John Williams, Aaron Copland and John Phillip Sousa, plus crowd favorites Armed Forces Salute and the 1812 Overture with live cannons. The grand finale features a stunning fireworks display accompanied by your Kansas City Symphony. Learn more.
Blue Springs Memorial Day Parade (May 25)
Blue Springs has held this Parade on Memorial Day each year since World War II, to honor those who died in service to our country. Military and Civilians march from Main Street to Blue Springs Cemetery, where the VFW holds a ceremony for the fallen, with a Parade Rest at Meyers Funeral Home, to honor their support of the parade.
