Janelle Monáe will headline “The Weekend” performance in Swope Park on Oct. 13, according to an announcement today by Kansas City Mayor Sly James.
“The Weekend” is part of Open Spaces KC, a two month effort to attract visitors to Kansas City and host art events.
Monáe released her latest album, Dirty Computer, in April along with an accompanying short film. She’s created two other albums. Her hit songs include Yoga, Make Me Feel and Q.U.E.E.N. The Kansas City, Kansas native also starred in Moonlight and Hidden Figures.
“She’s a contemporary artist,” Open Spaces artistic director Dan Cameron said. “She makes art fearlessly across many, many platforms.”
This is not the first attempt to get Monáe to perform in Kansas City. The American Jazz Museum
announced the singer as their headline act for their jazz festival last year only to later retract their statement saying they had not confirmed that she would perform.
A representative for Monáe confirmed over email that the singer is scheduled to perform at “The Weekend.”
“The Weekend” is a three day event and will include performances from The Roots and Vijay Iyer. Tickets go on sale Friday, July 13 at 10 a.m. and range in price from $39.50 to $99. Sunday tickets can be purchased for either $20 or $50.
The Roots, the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, have won three Grammys. The hip-hop band is known for songs like “What They Do” and “You Got Me.”
“Open Spaces is going to bring together people of Kansas City and the surrounding areas in the region in a way that would put our city on the map in terms of arts and culture and also as a way of bringing some unity to this city when unity seems to be in short supply in this country,” James said.
Here’s the full lineup:
Friday, Oct. 12
6 p.m. Red Baraat
7:30 p.m. The Soul Rebels
9:15 p.m. The Roots
Saturday, Oct. 13
4:30 p.m. Sankofa Danzafro
6 p.m. McFadden Brothers
7:30 p.m. Marcus Lewis Band
9:15 p.m. Janelle Monáe
Sunday, Oct. 14
4:30 p.m. Innov Gnawa
6 p.m. DakhaBrakha
7:30 p.m. Hermon Mehari Quartet
9 p.m. Vijay Iyer
Aviva Okeson-Haberman is a KCUR news intern.