Your guide to Kansas City area Valentine’s events, in person and virtual
The pandemic has scrapped most in-person Valentine’s Day events this year. But given the bitter cold forecast for the weekend, perhaps this Valentine’s Day might be best celebrated from home anyway.
At the top of the list of possibilities are popular pop pianist/singer Jim Brickman’s “Share the Love” concerts, which will be available through (and will benefit) the Folly Theater and Johnson County Community College’s Midwest Trust Center.
Five times are available: 8 p.m. Feb. 12 and 6 and 9 p.m. Feb. 13 and 14. Tickets are $50 for a household.
Contact follytheater.org or jccc.edu/midwest-trust-center.
Among other Valentine’s events, both virtual and in person:
▪ The Kansas City Zoo is offering a Valentine’s Day Lovebird Special called Adopt a Wild Child that includes the adoption of a penguin, a date at the zoo and more ($75). kansascityzoo.org.
▪ The Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm will provide a St. Valentine’s Day evening of poetry and chocolate, 7 p.m. Feb. 11 ($5; free for members; registration required). mahaffie.org.
▪ The Old Red Bridge in Minor Park will be lighted for the annual Lock Your Love: Valentine’s Weekend, when lovers can attach locks to the bridge to show their commitment to each other, 5-10 p.m. Feb. 12-14. kcparks.org.
▪ The International Center for Music Orchestra at Park University will present a Valentine’s concert with works of Sibelius, Puccini, Purcell, Kreisler and others livestreamed from the Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12. icm.park.edu.
▪ Weather permitting, the Sweetheart Run 5K/10K will start next to Coach’s Bar and Grill in Overland Park, 9 a.m. Feb. 13 ($44 for 10K, $39 for 5K, $12 for kids fun run). kcsweetheartrun.com.
▪ The historic downtown square in Independence will be the site of Chocolate Walk 2021, where visitors can sample chocolate at shops, cafes and businesses, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Feb. 13 ($10-$15). indepsquare.com.
Here are five more online ways you and your family can spend your coronavirus-induced stay-at-home time:
▪ A Mid-Continent Public Library program, “Cathay Williams: Buffalo Soldier,” will tell the story of the only documented female Buffalo Soldier and her service in the 38th U.S. Infantry from 1866 to 1868, 7 p.m. Feb.11. mymcpl.org.
▪ The Kansas City Art Institute’s Current Perspectives lecture series will return with social activist filmmaker Ya’Ke Smith, 7 p.m. Feb. 11 (free; reservations required). kcai.edu.
▪ A Bess Wallace Truman birthday celebration will feature Catherine Grace Katz, author of “Daughters of Yalta” about the three young women who accompanied their famous fathers — Averell Harriman, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt — to the Yalta Conference in the waning days of World War II, 2 p.m. Feb. 13. trumanlibraryinstitute.org.
▪ The Saving Our Jobs Virtual Comedy Festival will spotlight comedians from across North America, including Adam Yenser and Alex Elkin, 2 p.m. Feb. 14 ($20-$45). cabledahmerarena.com.
▪ Local author and historian David W. Jackson will present “Born a Slave: Rediscovering Arthur Jackson’s African American Heritage” about his genealogical research discoveries on his great-great-grandfather, 7 p.m. Feb. 16. mymcpl.org.
Here are four more in-person activities this coming week:
▪ The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art will move Claude Monet’s “Water Lilies” to a dedicated gallery for an immersive exhibition, “Monet Water Lilies: From Dawn to Dusk,” with a program simulating the rise and fall of daylight and a video of Monet painting in his garden. Replacing “Water Lilies” in the Bloch Galleries will be “Among Friends: Guillaumin, Cezanne, Pissarro.” Both exhibitions run Feb. 12-Jan. 23, 2022. nelson-atkins.org.
▪ The Kansas City Comets indoor soccer team, which stands 2-4 with three losses by one goal, will face the St. Louis Ambush at Cable Dahmer Arena, 7 p.m. Feb. 12 ($19-$32 for two). kccomets.com.
▪ The Lily B Moonflower Band will perform a socially distanced album release concert at the Aztec Theater, 8 p.m. Feb. 12 ($20). aztecshawnee.com.
▪ The annual Polar Plunge to raise funds for Special Olympics Kansas will take place at Shawnee Mission Park Lake, 11:30 a.m. Feb. 13; preceded by the Polar Strut 5K, 10 a.m. ($75 for Polar Plunge, $30 for Polar Strut 5K). plungeks.org/kc.
This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 10:40 AM.
