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Football season is almost here! 30hop is serving up big flavors, local brews, and a high-energy atmosphere perfect for brunch, happy hour, and game days. Join us in Merriam & Lee’s Summit!
Happy Monday! It’s gonna be a hot one out there this week. 🥵
🏈 Event of the Week: Chiefs (preseason) football is back!
🏗️ Massive development planned for Gardner
🐼 Panda Fest to make KC debut
🛒 Which KC suburb is getting a new Aldi
Event of the Week 🎟️
Development
A 335-Acre Entertainment and Education District Proposed for Gardner
Populous
Velocity, a proposed mixed-use entertainment, arts, and education district along the I-35 corridor in Gardner, is currently moving through a review process.
What's Planned?: A whole lot. The 335-acre district centers on a proposed 15,000-seat indoor concert pavilion designed for major touring acts year-round. Alongside it: a fully accredited music and media college with on-campus housing, a Performing Arts Center, a full-service hotel with a spa and rooftop event space, a lagoon with vacation villas and residential apartments, a Main Street with a food hall and grocer, an esports arena, and an outdoor entertainment yard.
Trust the Process: The project is being master planned by Populous, and is in public review with the City of Gardner. Plans, timing, and individual components are all subject to change. McCownGordon is serving as the construction manager, and Kimley-Horn is serving as the civil engineer.
Find renderings and additional details HERE.
Events
Panda Fest Makes its KC Debut at Legends Field This Fall
Panda Fest
Panda Fest, one of the nation's fastest-growing Asian food and cultural festivals, is coming to Kansas City for the first time, October 9-11.
Asian Eats: The festival will transform Legends Field into a three-day celebration of AAPI heritage with 90+ food vendors, 30+ artisan merchants, and a full weekend of live performances. More than 200 street food specialties from vendors representing culinary traditions across China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and beyond, with every vendor offering at least one item under $10.
The Full Experience: Festival stages feature lion dances, martial arts, K-pop dance crews, traditional instrumental music, and folk dance performances. A marketplace of handcrafted jewelry, art, and décor rounds out the weekend, plus a Panda Bounce House and family activities throughout.
Tickets are on sale TODAY starting at 10am. Get them HERE.
KC Daily Picks
In Other News…
🛒 Well I’ll Be, It’s Aldi: A new Aldi grocery store is under construction just off I-70 in Grain Valley, at 3300 S. Outer Road E. It is scheduled to open in January 2027.
🏀 Pop-A-Shot Kings: Not one, but two KC area men qualified for the 2026 Pop-A-Shot National Championships this past Friday. Shawnee’s Carson Dean and Lenexa’s Chris Murphy, who is the current Pop-A-Shot Elite all-time record holder.
🏈 Beauty Rest for QB1: Patrick Mahomes says his surgically-repaired knee “feels great”. Mahomes says he's preparing to play in the preseason, but Andy Reid has hinted at sitting him until the regular season.
🤝 Costco Compromise: KC City Council approved the Midtown Costco's conversion to a business-only wholesale center, with one key win for neighbors: the pharmacy and gas station are staying for at least a year.
🍽️ New Friends Await: Have you signed up for the next KC Daily Dinner Club? Your new friends have! Were gathering groups now for dinners around the Country Club Plaza on Thursday, August 20th.
🎟️ Sell Out: Do you have an upcoming event you’d like an extra {{active_subscriber_count}} pair of eyes on? Book an upcoming Event of the Week!
Thanks for reading today’s newsletter. If you enjoyed it, share it with someone who tailgates every Chiefs game (including the preseason).
— Nick Hageman | Co-Founder @ KC Daily
