With Spring fast approaching and the weather improving with each passing weekend the activities and events are also picking up around the Kansas City area. With a particularly packed weekend of things to do coming up this weekend, check out our featured list of events below to plan your itinerary.

March 9 – 12

Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship

Thursday, March 9 – Saturday, March 11
Game Times Vary
Ticket Prices Vary

The Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship tournament will once again be taking Kansas City by storm over the course of this week and weekend. As hosts to the tournament, fans from teams all across the Midwest will flood downtown to watch the games held at the Sprint Center in Power and Light District. Hang out in P&L for activities going on all throughout the weekend, including a 5k run. Tickets are also still available for the games, with the championship game taking place Saturday evening at 5 p.m. In 2015, the Big 12 Conference announced the Championship will be staying in Kansas City through 2020, so look forward to continuing to enjoy the tournament weekend locally for the next few years!

Sprint Center
1407 Grand Blvd,
Kansas City, MO 64106
(816) 949-7100

Snake Saturday Parade & Festival

Friday, March 10 – Sunday, March 12
Parade Starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday
Free to Attend

Start your St. Patrick’s Day festivities early this weekend with the 33rd Annual Snake Saturday Parade and Festival in the heart of downtown North Kansas City. Snake Saturday is the largest Irish Festival in the Kansas City area, with nearly 100,000 participants in the two day event. Snake Saturday begins on Friday evening with the opening of the carnival area and the Annual Charity Cook-off. The event continues on Saturday with the addition of food vendors, a free children’s area, children’s stage and, of course, the parade, which begins at 11 a.m. The parade and festival are family oriented events with a philanthropic focus. In addition to the commercial entries, charities design parade entries to win prize money for their organization. Over the years, more than a million dollars has been distributed to charities.

Downtown North Kansas City
320 Armour Road,
North Kansas City, MO 64116
(816) 548-3113

The Kansas City Auto Show

Thursday, March 9 – Monday, March 13
Thursday: 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Friday & Saturday: 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Adult: $11
Junior (Ages 8 – 12): $6

The Kansas City Auto Show is bringing Auto Madness to the Kansas City Convention Center all this weekend. So when you’re not watching basketball, head over to Bartle Hall to check out an incredible variety of 500 cars, trucks, SUVs, crossovers, and more. Returning to the lineup is KC’s Garage, the event’s social destination where visitors can enjoy food, fun, and a beer garden. Enjoy the tasty food offerings from the local Food Truck Mafia, quench your thirst in a sports bar atmosphere and watch your favorite teams play on the big screens, listen to live DJ music to keep the festive fun alive all while you meander through a wide range of cars from your favorite classics to the cutting edge of modern technology. Buy your tickets online in advance.

Kansas City Convention & Entertainment Facilities
301 W 13th St., 
Kansas City, MO 64105
(816) 513-5000 

The Bloch Galleries Opening Weekend

Saturday, March 11 & Sunday, March 12
10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Free Admission

In June 2015, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art welcomed into its collection 29 masterworks by the leading Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists of the 19th century — among them Pierre Bonnard, Eugène Boudin, Gustave Caillebotte, Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Georges Seurat, Paul Signac, Alfred Sisley and Vincent van Gogh. The Marion and Henry Bloch Collection, created over many years, is an outstanding collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. This weekend, the new Bloch Galleries will open to the public, offering visitors an immersive experience with the masterpieces. Enrich your Bloch Galleries experience with state-of-the-art technology including in-gallery tablets and interactive stations, along with podcast-style audio tours, guided tours, events and talks—free of charge. Timed tickets are required for the weekend.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art 
4525 Oak Street,
Kansas City, Missouri 64111
(816) 751-1278