Troostapalooza is back for its 5th year ‘bigger and better than ever’ this weekend

The fifth annual Troostapalooza kicks off on Saturday, Oct. 8 from 12 p.m. until 6 p.m. The neighborhood festival will take over Troost Avenue and will feature over 150 vendors, community groups and food trucks. Aside from food and vendors, there will be live music, basketball, skate boarding, artwork and lots of fellowship.

“This is a community showcase,” said Troostapalooza founder Crissy Dastrup. “I think this year is just going to be bigger and better than ever.”

The event is located at 30th Street and Troost Avenue. The festivities will sprawl into cross streets, parking lots and local businesses that line Troost Avenue from 30th to 31st streets.

Each year, Troostapalooza is hosted by its non-profit arm Troost Market Collective, which works to support local entrepreneurs and creatives through community collaboration.

Ruby Jean’s Kitchen and Juicery at 3000 Troost Ave. will have a farmers market set up in its parking lot. The Combine, a casual family restaurant and bar at 2999 Troost Ave., will host a beer garden-like set-up in the restaurant and on its rooftop.

There will also be a few basketball tournaments, including three-on-three games, a three-pointer contest and a game of horse featuring Mayor Quinton Lucas and the men’s and women’s basketball teams from UMKC.

For those who like to skateboard, Skate HQ will transform a parking lot opposite Ruby Jean’s Juicery, on the east side of Troost, into a mini skate park, according to Dastrup.

On the main stage, there will be a line-up of local talent, who will bring live performances to the street fair from 12:30 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. Performers include:

Jass at 12:30 p.m.

Tiggz Music at 1:30 p.m.

Lava Dreams at 2:15 p.m.

The Royal Chief at 3:15 p.m.

Kye Colors at 4:00 p.m.

Mae C at 5:00 p.m.

In addition to performances, local artist Lance Flores will be doing a live mural at Ruby Jean’s Juicery. A low-rider showcase will take place near the stage, and there will be a play and kids zone for the young folks in attendance.

The “Kidz corner” will have jewelry making, an obstacle course and its very own youth DJ set by DJ Fire Fist.

Merging east and west of Troost

Dastrup, who chairs the Troost Market Collective’s board, has lived in Kansas City for 14 years and started Trootspallooza five years ago. She said due to her background in health and science, she knows how important it can be to share space with community members, and how impactful fellowship can be on a biological level.

“Being together as a community helps build bonds that are measurable,” she said. “Bringing east and west of Troost together, that is something that is important, because it has been so intentionally divided and has not felt like a welcoming place to come together.”

The history of Troost has a rocky past, marked by racism and segregation.

The Osage Nation were some of the first stewards of the land, but an 1808 and 1825 treaty with the United States government eventually displaced the Native American nation. The forced removal reduced the Osage population by 95%, according to the Osage Nation Foundation.

By the 1830s, a Rev. James Porter established the Porter Plantation between 23rd and 31st streets, where his family enslaved up to 100 people. Even the name ‘Troost’ comes from Benoist Troost, who also enslaved Black people.

Around that same time, Troost Avenue became a thriving area for wealthy families, but that season of wealth was followed by decades of redlining, white flight and residential segregation that have continued to scar the neighborhood in many ways, according to Dastrup.

When Dastrup moved to the neighborhood, she said it was like a ghost town.

“It felt like life was barely hanging on, you know?” she said.

“Restoring something that has just been so degraded and broken takes time. We’ve been patient, we’ve been intentional [and] we’ve done our best to uplift this community.”

Troostapalooza has been an opportunity for the community to come together and breathe life back into the neighborhood, said Dastrup, adding that although the event has been successful, there is more work to do.

“Troostapalooza is really just a showcase of how beautiful this community is, and all the different people and aspects that have helped us grow…and to breathe creativity into that ghost town to kind of help it remember where it’s been, remember who we are, remember where we want to go together as a people,” she said.

To get an idea of who all will be vending at Troostapalooza this year, visit the event’s website or check out its social media. To register for free tickets for the event, visit here.