Celebration at the Station: Celebrate KC, Celebrate America

News Release

For Release: March 12, 2008
Contact: Jeff Barker
Kansas City Symphony
(816) 218-2626 or (816) 529-4535

FOOD CHOICES ABOUND AT UNION STATION FOR SYMPHONY’S MEMORIAL WEEKEND CONCERT

PB&J Restaurants to operate food booths based on award-winning Kansas City restaurant concepts, gourmet picnic baskets available by advance reservation

May 12, 2008 (Kansas City, Mo.) The Midwest’s most popular Memorial Day event, Bank of America Celebration at the Station, returns for its sixth year to Kansas City’s Union Station on Sunday, May 25. Bank of America Celebration at the Station features Music Director Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony performing familiar patriotic music against the backdrop of historic Union Station, with a finale of blazing fireworks above the National WWI Museum at Liberty Memorial. (Rain Date: Monday, May 26).

The festivities kick off at 3:00PM on May 25, as food booths based on Kansas City-based PB&J Restaurants, Inc. showcase food from their Yahooz, Yia Yia’s, Red Robin and Grand Street Café concepts. Inside Union Station, Pierpont’s will be open during the event, and The Bistro at Union Station will open at 9:00PM for late-night appetizers, desserts and drinks. Outside on the festival grounds, vendors will offer hot dogs, kettle corn, Sheridan’s Frozen Custard, and a variety of beverages. Selections offered at the PB&J Restaurants booths include:

Yia Yia’s
Hummus and pita, gyros, chicken kabobs, dessert
Yahooz
Barbeque family pack for 4, pulled pork sandwich, burnt ends, Philly wraps
Grand Street Café
Spring rolls, turkey pastrami wrap, chopped Cobb salad, cookies
Red Robin
Burgers and corn dogs

Gourmet picnic baskets are being offered by advance reservation from The Bistro at Union Station. Choices include fried chicken or gourmet sandwiches, complete with various side items, cookies, and choice of beer, wine or soda. Baskets feeding 4 people are $49.95 each, and baskets feeding 6 people are $69.95 each. To inquire about menu selections and reserve a picnic basket for pick-up at the event, please call The Bistro at Union Station at (816) 460-2014.

Concertgoers arriving early will be treated to a two-hour tribute to Kansas City’s jazz history, as the Station Street Jazz Ensemble plays from 4:00PM until 6:00PM on the main stage. Featuring some of Kansas City’s finest jazz musicians, “Goin’ to Kansas City – A Jazz Tribute” spotlights the icons of Kansas City’s jazz history, including Count Basie, Charlie Parker and Jay McShann. The line-up of musicians includes Marvin Gruenbaum, Paul Smith, Rod Fleeman, Gerald Spaits, Ray DeMarchi, and Mark Cohick.

The live event at Union Station and television broadcast on KCPT Channel 19 will showcase the Kansas City Symphony, taking the stage at 7:30PM on May 27 for a rousing set of orchestral music to celebrate all things American, including The Stars and Stripes Forever, America The Beautiful, and the 1812 Overture, complete with live firing cannons!

At 9:15PM, all heads will turn to the sky over the National WWI Museum at Liberty Memorial for a stunning display of choreographed fireworks, bursting to the beat of patriotic music. This fireworks display is one of the largest staged in the Midwest all year.

Families attending the free outdoor performance by the Kansas City Symphony and the fireworks display are encouraged to bring blankets and lawn chairs. Parking for Bank of America Celebration at the Station is free. The West Yards Parking Garage at Union Station will be available, as will the surface parking lots of other area business, including Hallmark and Blue Cross & Blue Shield. Parking for a nominal charge is available in area parking garages, including Two Pershing Square.

Complete concert and event details are available online at www.CelebrationAtTheStation.com.

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About Union Station Kansas City, Inc.

Union Station is Kansas City’s signature historical landmark and a civic asset. Renovated and reopened to the public in 1999, Union Station plays a key role in Kansas City’s regional history. A voter approved bistate cultural sales tax, the first of its kind in the country, funded nearly half of the $250 million renovation. The remaining money was raised through private donations and federal funding.

Union Station receives no public funding. Current operating costs are funded by general admission and theater ticketing, grants, private donations, commercial space leases and facility rental. Union Station is a nonprofit 501c3 organization. The Station is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Union Station Kansas City, Inc. also operates the Kansas City Museum in Kansas City’s historic northeast neighborhood.

The meticulously restored facility is, in and of itself, a historical artifact and is open daily to the public for viewing at no charge. Its maintenance is vital to the preservation of Kansas City's regional history. Union Station also serves as a showcase for Smithsonian Institute and other national traveling museum exhibits, including Bodies Revealed on display now, and houses a science center. An entertainment district at Union Station includes a live theater, a 3D giant screen movie theater, shops and restaurants. The Station’s reopening has also helped stimulate the area’s urban renewal.

Kansas City Symphony

Led by Music Director Michael Stern, the Kansas City Symphony's 80-member orchestra performs more than 50 concerts on three series (Classical, Family, Pops) during its 42-week season, September through June. In addition, the Symphony performs non-series concerts such as educational programs, free outdoor concerts, and outreach performances, and serves as the orchestra for the Lyric Opera and the Kansas City Ballet. Classical performances are broadcast weekly on KCUR 89.3 FM during the Kansas City Symphony Hour, Thursdays at 9 p.m. Visit the Kansas City Symphony online at www.kcsymphony.org.