The François Chouteau & Native American Heritage Fountain is the location for a special fun-filled event to observe Missouri’s 200^th Anniversary!

Everyone is invited to join KC Parks on Saturday, July 24, to celebrate Missouri’s Bicentennial at the François Chouteau & Native American Heritage Fountain in the Northland. The free event will take place from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at the fountain site, 3904 Chouteau Trafficway, located between I-35 and M-210 Highway, just north of Parvin Road in Kansas City.

“The Chouteau Fountain site is a fitting location for the Bicentennial celebration,” says Dick Davis, Chouteau Fountain Founders chairperson. “French pioneer Francois Chouteau is widely acknowledged as Kansas City’s founding father having established the area’s first fur trading post on the bluffs of the Missouri River some 200 years ago.”

The festivities include Native American dancers, fiddlers and dulcimer players, fur trapping re-enactors, recognition of Missouri’s 200th Anniversary by state and local dignitaries, the unveiling of the fountain’s newest bronze sculpture, and the debut of a play, Tartuffenthrope! by Kansas City playwright Philip blue owl Hooser. Additional activities include horse-drawn wagon rides, food trucks, youth activities, and a Plein Air Quick Paint contest.

On site donations and a silent auction will help benefit the completion of the Chouteau Fountain. All attendees are also invited to sign the official Kansas City Missouri Bicentennial Registry and receive a commemorative “twig” pen.

The celebration is supported by the City of Kansas City, KC Parks, Northland Neighborhoods Inc., and Missouri’s Bicentennial Committee. For more information, visit www.kcparks.org/mo200kc.

BLUFFS STAGE SCHEDULE
9 a.m.               Beyond the Circle Native American Dancers
9:30 a.m.          Dennis Stroughmatt, Cajun fiddle
10:30 a.m.        MO Bicentennial Program
11 a.m.             Tartuffenthrope! by KC Molière 400
11:40 a.m.        Beyond the Circle Native American Dancers
Noon                Folk in the Flow
12:50 p.m.       Plein Air Award Presentation
Interludes by Robert Roe, the Osage Wind Rider

ACTIVITIES TENT SCHEDULE
9:30 a.m.          Robert Roe, the Osage Wind Rider
10 a.m.             Starry, Starry Night puppet show
10:30 a.m.        Workshop #1: Missouri Mule Mouth Puppets
11:30 a.m.        Workshop #2:  Paper Plate Puppets
12:30 p.m.        Backyard Buggin puppet show
Ongoing chalk art, roving puppets, giant bubbles, hula hoops, jugglers

PARKING/SHUTTLE
Legal parking is available on some streets and at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 3800 NE Parvin Rd, Kansas City, MO 64117. The KCATA will provide complimentary shuttle transportation around the NE Chouteau corridor.

ABOUT THE FOUNTAIN
The François Chouteau & Native American Heritage Fountain is currently under further development on the west side of Chouteau Parkway, south of I-35, north of Parvin Road. The first phase of the fountain bluff is complete and three heroic size bronze sculptures of Francois Chouteau and two Osage Indians are installed. A fourth sculpture of a Kansa hunter stalking a beaver will be unveiled at the Bicentennial celebration. The sculptures were produced by local artist Kwan Wu, who is ranked among the top sculptors in the world. The fountain’s next phase includes building additional bluffs and adding a water feature.  More at www.chouteaufountain.org.

MISSOURI’S BICENTENNIAL
August 10, 2021, will mark the two hundredth anniversary of Missouri’s entry as the 24th state to enter the United States. A state with many different regional cultures, geographies, and industries, each Missouri community, county, and region has a story to tell about its people, their history, their commerce, and their culture. By celebrating the accomplishments and diversity of all these regions, we help create a better understanding of our one Missouri and the ties that bind us together. More at www.missouri2021.org.