By Michael Bushnell
Northeast News

In the late 1880s, Kansas City was awash with excitement that it too would soon have its own Harvest Festival.
An up and coming group of Kansas Citians had started what would last almost 40 years in its first incarnation. The Priests of Pallas festival had been born. The first year a great parade was held. President Grover Cleveland and his young bride attended the first P.O.P. Festivities. They viewed extravagant floats accompanied by torch bearing members of the Flambeau Club march along Broadway from the 2nd floor balcony of their suite at the Coates House Hotel. The theme for the first two years was “Grecian Myths” and changed annually after those first two years.

Souvenirs of every shape and size were created to commemorate the festival, including Private Mailing Cards, precursors to hand colored picture postcards. The theme of the 1908 Priests of Pallas parade was “Flight of the Hours,” with each float representing a different time of the day in Kansas City.

The postcard shown is from a 15-card set. Card No. 15, the last of the set is entitled “Time, gathers its harvest everywhere but is limited in Kansas City.”

Hotels throughout the city were jammed for the week-long celebration. The festival died out in the early 1920s for lack of interest. The wide open style of Kansas City at the time meant a festival in the nature of P.O.P. could be found in most every speakeasy throughout the city. A civic group attempted a resurrection in 1928, but the festival just didn’t harken the interest it once did.

In October of 2007, some 80-plus years later, a group of like-minded citizens resurrected the Priests of Pallas theme and a huge festival Ball was held in Union Station. The event promised a “stunning range of artistry and exhilarating live entertainment.” The newly resurrected festival lasted only three years, folding again in 2010 for economic reasons.