"Family-friendly is something that we've really focused and honed in on through the World Cup as we were experiencing all of the watch parties we had down here," Current Landing's head of experience, Ashley Kraus, told FOX4 in October.
Those watch parties filled the riverfront in summer. On the Friday after Thanksgiving, CPKC Stadium opens Light Up The Pitch, its first walk-through holiday light experience, next to a mixed-use district where only a handful of storefronts are serving customers. For now, the stadium is what brings people to the riverfront in December. The KC Streetcar's Riverfront stop, about a five-minute walk from the main gate, gets people there with no parking plan at all.
A light show at a district that's still opening
The announcement from Current Landing describes a route of about 60 minutes through the stadium. It has teal displays inspired by the KC Current, interactive lights, a winter wonderland, a train depot, a larger-than-life Santa and a 26-foot tree tall enough to see from Bond Bridge. Along the way you'll find a holiday-inspired menu at several stops, a s'mores station, and a post office where kids can write letters to KC Current players. KC Current holiday merchandise is sold on site. KCTV5 and The Kansas City Star both covered the launch on Oct. 27.
The show doesn't run every night. Tickets are sold for specific entry times between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m., and the schedule is built around weekends:
| Date block | Nights |
|---|---|
| Fri., Nov. 27 through Sun., Nov. 29 | 3 |
| Fri., Dec. 4 and Sun., Dec. 6 | 2 |
| Thu., Dec. 10 through Sun., Dec. 13 | 4 |
| Thu., Dec. 17 through Sun., Dec. 20 | 4 |
| Sat., Dec. 26 through Sun., Jan. 3, 2027 | 9 |
That adds up to 22 scheduled nights. Almost half of them fall in the stretch between Christmas and New Year's, when school is out and out-of-town guests are often looking for something to do. Early-bird prices were $25 for adults and $15 for kids, and they went up on Nov. 4. Current prices are on the Light Up The Pitch ticket page. The stadium also says it will post closings, extended weeknight options, movie-themed weekends and Santa sightings at cpkcstadium.com.
What's around the stadium, and what's still coming
The announcement says Current Landing will be decorated with lights and an extravagant Christmas tree, with movies and more showing on its big screen. The district behind that screen is young. Revel opened in early October as Current Landing's first restaurant. FOX4 reported it as the first of 18 businesses planned for the development, with 10 more expected over the following several months.
So you'll be walking past a district that is still mostly under construction. Here is what has been announced near the stadium entrance:
- Revel at Current Landing. This upscale sports bar from Danney Elmore and Shawn Larson faces the entry to CPKC Stadium and anchors the KC Current Town Pavilion. The Star reported that it opens at 11 a.m. daily and stays open until 3 a.m. Thursday through Sunday, closing before midnight Monday through Wednesday. That means it's open late on every scheduled show night.
- Pitchside. This all-day spot for coffee, wellness drinks and cocktails started as a trailer on the promenade. Its permanent Current Landing location was scheduled to open in mid-November.
- Two Birds One Stone and Moonstone. KCUR's riverfront guide described Two Birds One Stone as a beer garden and restaurant at 1000 East Riverfront Drive, with the Moonstone cocktail bar upstairs.
- Announced tenants. Clementine's Ice Cream, Providence Pizza Co., Crows Coffee and an Italian restaurant from chef Nicholas Stefanelli are all on Current Landing's restaurant roster.
On a show night, then, the light show is the main event, and Revel and the bars along the promenade are where you'd eat or grab a drink before or after. In a few months there may be more choices. This December, the light show gives people a reason to come to the riverfront in winter while the district's storefronts are still opening.
The streetcar is what makes this an easy night out
Before May, a December night at CPKC Stadium meant driving and parking. Then the streetcar's Riverfront extension opened on May 18, 2026. It's a 0.7-mile, $62 million addition to the line. KCUR reported that the extension crosses the Grand Boulevard Bridge to the midpoint of the riverfront. The KC Streetcar puts the Riverfront stop about a five-minute walk from the stadium's main gate.
The other end of the line matters just as much. Since the Main Street extension opened on Oct. 24, 2025, the route has continued south past downtown. It now stops at the WWI Museum and Memorial, Union Hill, Armour, Westport at 39th and Main, Southmoreland, the Art Museums, the Plaza, and UMKC at 51st and Brookside Boulevard. If you live near any of those stops, CPKC Stadium is now one ride away. Service through the whole Riverfront–UMKC line resumed on Oct. 15 after track work, with all stops open and trains every 10 minutes.
Summer ridership showed the riverfront can bring big crowds onto the line. The Streetcar Authority counted 698,705 trips in June 2026, a monthly record. July came in lower at 587,014, but Saturday, July 11 set a single-day record of 55,973 trips. By the July report, 2026 had passed 3 million trips for the year. Those numbers came during World Cup matches and watch parties. Light Up The Pitch will be the first sign of what a cold-weather event does with the same stop.
For parking, the stadium sends visitors to cpkcstadium.com.
A night from Midtown, step by step
Here's one simple way to plan a show night if you live near the Main Street line:
- Book a time slot on the ticket page. Leave enough time for the ride north and the five-minute walk from the Riverfront stop.
- Board at the stop closest to you, whether that's the Plaza, Westport, the Art Museums or Union Hill, and ride north through downtown and over the Grand Boulevard Bridge to the end of the line.
- Walk the roughly 60-minute route through the stadium, with a stop at the s'mores station and the players' post office if you have kids with you.
- Head out to Current Landing's tree and big screen, then eat at Revel or one of the spots along the promenade before catching the streetcar home.
On the busiest dates, the Friday after Thanksgiving and the nine nights after Christmas, it makes sense to buy tickets well ahead. The release said tickets were expected to sell fast.
What fills in next
The Light Up The Pitch crowds will be walking through the early stage of a much bigger plan. The Star reported that Berkley Riverfront is in Phase I of a 10-year, $1 billion mixed-use development. Construction is underway on 433 apartments, new parks and 55,000 square feet of commercial space, and Current Landing is part of that work. FOX4 reported that the first apartments at Current Landing began welcoming residents in late September, with more units expected in the coming months.
Of the 18 planned businesses, Revel was the first to open, and 10 more are expected over the next several months. That puts many of the district's openings in the months after the last light show night on Jan. 3, 2027. If you take the streetcar to the riverfront in late spring, expect more storefronts open than you'll see this December.
At The Johns Family Team, we keep an eye on how projects like the streetcar extension and Current Landing change daily life along the line, from the Plaza to the riverfront. If you own a home near a Main Street stop and wonder how that access affects what it's worth, ask us to put together your free home valuation.
