A night market in KC is canceled after venue shuts down for good
A Kansas City night market was abruptly canceled just days before multiple vendors had planned to sell their goods at the Juneteenth-themed event on Thursday.
KC Night Market announced the cancellation of the event on Monday, just three days before local bakers, jewelers and other small business owners were expected to take over the space where the X-Roads Rally is located in the Crossroads.
In an Instagram post, KC Night Market said the venue, X-Roads Rally, was forcibly shut down by the owners of the outdoor property at 1924 Oak St.
“Unfortunately due to circumstances completely outside of our control, the venue scheduled to host KC Night Market on June 18 has been shut down by the owners effective immediately,” the post said. “As a result, we have no choice but to cancel the event for this Thursday. To everyone who planned to attend, perform, vend, volunteer or simply support us: We’re sorry.”
Quincy Crutchfield, creator and owner of the KC Night Market, said he was told Sunday by X-Roads Rally that the event would no longer take place. He wasn’t given a reason why.
It was the night market’s first event since a Halloween-themed event in October. This week’s night market was going to be inspired by Juneteenth and as a “chance to celebrate the creators, artists, musicians, brands and community members” who have supported KC Night Market since its first event held in 2021.
For the June 18 event, it had rounded up a roster of vendors that included Brown Suga Bakes, Sammy Boy Vintage and The Creative Outlet. The event had also planned to host FIFA World Cup watch parties for the Canada vs. Qatar and Mexico vs. Korea matches.
As soon as Crutchfield received the cancellation news, he had to contact 25 vendors to inform them the night market was no more.
“It was definitely going to be a bigger event attendance-wise, so that part is unfortunate,” Crutchfield said. “(It was) being able to showcase the local vendors to the world for the World Cup.”
On Tuesday X-Roads Rally confirmed on social media that they would no longer host the night market — or any event before or after. X-Roads Rally had a schedule of near-daily events that stretched through the duration of the World Cup, including dance parties and live music, and up until Tuesday the activation was selling tickets for those events.
The venue billed itself as an outdoor fan zone in the Crossroads that would include LED video walls, food trucks and bars for those who purchased tickets to be in the space. It was also short-lived, with X-Roads Rally hosting its first event June 5.
“After careful consideration, X-Roads Rally has concluded its run,” an Instagram post said. “We encourage everyone to continue supporting local businesses, community events and fan fest activities throughout the city.”
The Kansas City Star emailed M3 Global Events, a Kansas-based company that is associated with X-Roads Rally, for more information about the unexpected cancellation. In response, they sent a link to a Facebook post that announced the closure of X-Roads Rally.
An email was also sent to Abbott Properties, who is listed as the property owner of the space at 1924 Oak St., but the company didn’t respond to questions about the event closure by deadline.
The KC Night Market isn’t to be confused with the Crossroads Arts District’s Night Market, an extension of the neighborhood’s popular First Fridays that now lasts all weekend and every weekend during the World Cup.
But when Crutchfield started KC Night Market, he did it because there weren’t market options at night for Kansas Citians. KC Night Market was born out of his love of supporting other local small businesses and bringing that atmosphere into a nightlife setting.
Despite this hiccup, Crutchfield said the night market isn’t going anywhere, though he may organize fewer of them in favor of offering more marketing services to the local businesses he loves to support.
However, KC Night Market will pop up this month at the four-year anniversary block party hosted by More Than Friends, which hosts dance parties around Kansas City.
