Snake Saturday

In the past few years, North Kansas City has grown a bustling craft beer scene.  Screenland Armour, Cinder Block Brewery, The Big Rip Brewing Company, Grain to Glass, and even Helen’s JAD Bar & Grill are all great places to get unique beers on the way home from work or on a fun Saturday night.  This Saturday, however, is for the snakes.  Snake Saturday is an annual tradition in North Kansas City that started 32 years ago.  In 1983, Mickey Finn and Bill Grigsby started the parade as a promotion for Rodeway Inn.  At the time it had only four floats and a Grand Marshal and took place in the motel parking lot.  It was a chilly day, only about ten degrees, but people were able to watch the parade from their hotel rooms and the coffee shop.

This year, there are over 100 floats and the temperature will be much warmer.  Okay, so there’s the parade talk.  What’s going on beerwise?  Lots!  With the city’s great craft beer scene, there’s a lot from which to choose.

The Big Rip Brewing Company will host a Kegs N Eggs beginning at 8am, which breakfast burritos and beer.  New beers will be on tap including Groovy Pale Ale, which used 3lbs of Amarillo Hops, and The Priest Chocolate Milk Stout.  They’ll also have mixed drinks like Irish Car Bombs, Drowning Dr Pepper Beers, and Irish Coffee.  Bars will be located inside and outside.  From noon until 3:30pm, Scarlet Town Band, an Irish Folk Quartet, will be playing and Helen’s on Wheels Food Truck will be serving food.  They’ll have Snake Saturday shirts for sale and Limited Edition Buttons for the first 100 people.  219 E 9th Ave

Grain to Glass will have a paid Beer Garden with corned beef, fries, and two beers included in the $30 price.  If you want a reserved parking spot, it’ll be an extra $45 ($75 total).  They’ll have a few Boulevard’s on tap, including their new Spring Belle and an event-appropriate Irish Ale.  1611 Swift Ave

Cinder Block Brewery may be familiar to you lately, as they just released kegs to Kansas City area bars.  They’ll be open from 9am until 5pm with live music from 10am until 4pm.  Back Rack Grill will be serving Irish Style BBQ.  A $5 cover charge gets you in all day.  Isle of Cinder, a Wee Heavy, will be on tap as well as other great beers.  110 E 18th Ave

Screenland Armour will have a special New Belgium Firkin and Montage, an all movie soundtrack band, that will be playing live.  408 Armour Rd

Smokin’ Guns BBQ will have live music, My Six Gun Heart, from 1pm until 5pm and Miller Lite beer specials.

Johnny’s Backyard will feature Irish Pipers, Open Blue Jam, and OASIS on their outdoor stage.  They open at 8am.  1825 Buchanan St

Neon Wild will have Travis Marvin play in their Beer Garden.  No cover charge.  1802 Clay St

Denim & Diamonds will have Years Past in concert at 7pm.  1725 Swift Ave

River Aces will be open from 8am until 3am and will have DJs all day.  Cash only.  1800 Swift Ave

Christine’s Firehouse on 20th Bar & Grill has a lot of understandable restrictions:  21 & older; must have ID; no backpacks, coolers, or outside food/drink; cash only; and only porta potties.  They’ll be open 6am to 6pm and have Three Drink Minimum playing at 11am.  220 E 20th Ave

Helen’s JAD Bar & Grill is a bit out of the way of the parade, so they’re not doing anything at their bar, but will have their food truck at Big Rip to serve a special menu.  2002 Armour Rd

A few tips for the parade and beer events:

• Get there early if you want a good parking spot.  Any time after 9am, you’re going to have to walk a few blocks or more.
• Same goes for a good spot to sit/stand and watch the parade.  Get there early.  Several thousand people attend the parade nowadays, much more than the few dozen that watched it 32 years ago.
• The best spot to collect the most amount of candy and other fun stuff is about 14th & Swift. Floats can run out of candy pretty quickly, so get on the route early.  Plus, they’re excited and get kind of a slow start at the beginning, so they hand out a lot of candy.
• Bring cash.  A lot of venues only accept cash on Snake Saturday and if they are accepting credit cards, they are going to be extremely busy.  Also, most have Square machines they use with iPads, so the wait will be even longer.  Connectivity to the network will be decreased due to the volume of cell phone use making the wait for charging your card even longer.
• It is a family-friendly day, so no drinking outside the venues.
• Don’t be an asshole.  (This is an every day tip, but works here, too)

We will be handing out buttons and taking pictures at Big Rip, Cinder Block, Grain to Glass, and throughout the crowd.  Have fun and be safe!