Entertainment and Culture

PUBLISHED AUGUST 2025

Nestled between the vibrant energy of St. Louis and the modern allure of Kansas City, Missouri unfolds as a treasure trove of arts, entertainment, and adrenaline-pumping sports. Here, world-class performances, championship athletics, and breathtaking attractions come together in a symphony of Midwestern charm.

On the east side of Missouri, in St. Louis, you can find the Grand Center Arts District, where all manner of performing arts—Broadway plays, classical music, ballet, and more—help that city stake its claim to artistic excellence. Not quite 250 miles to the west sits the twin-orbed shell of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, which immediately thrust that community into discussions of the world’s best venues when it opened in 2011. 

In between, you’ll find an endless array of art, history, and science museums. You’ll find pro and major-college sports, as well as some of the best championship-level collegiate sports the nation has to offer. You’ll find outstanding venues for shopping and dining, theme parks for the kids, and first-class accommodations from five-star hotels to high-end bed-and-breakfast options.

Looking for more? Check out spectacular zoos in the two major cities or botanical gardens that will dazzle and delight, ranging from Powell Gardens, just outside Kansas City, to the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis.

A defining element of Missouri’s entertainment and culture space is the number of impressive venues. Take the one-of-a-kind Starlight Theatre, Kansas City’s premier outdoor stage venue since it took its first curtain call 75 years ago. Or the St. Louis trifecta of the Fabulous Fox Theatre, Powell Symphony Hall, and Sheldon Concert Hall. 

Both cities boast symphonies, ballet and repertory theater troupes, and each has large-scale facilities for concerts that range from indoor venues like the 18,000-seat T-Mobile Center all the way up to stadium-level seating at Arrowhead (58,000 for concerts) or the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis (66,000).

In Springfield, Missouri State University’s campus is home to the Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts. And even in tiny Arrow Rock, the Lyceum Theatre and its 416 seats (about seven times the small burg’s population!) offers professional musicals, dramas, and comedies in an eight-show season.

From the black-tie venues to the black and blue of contact sports, Missouri gives fans of every stripe reason to break out the face paint on Saturdays and Sundays with its professional and collegiate sports. Coincidentally enough, those paint hues come in two colors: red and blue.

The sports world offers professional football (including four-time Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs), pro baseball with both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals, pro hockey with the St. Louis Blues of the NHL, and women’s professional soccer with the KC Current. 

College sports fans can take in the University of Missouri, bringing the best in college football and basketball to Columbia, roughly halfway between the state’s two big cities. And at the Division II level, Northwest Missouri State is a powerhouse with six national championships in football and another in basketball, as recently as 2021.

In St. Louis, the Grand Center Arts District pulses with creativity, hosting everything from Broadway spectacles to stirring symphonies. Meanwhile, Kansas City’s architectural marvel, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, has been wowing audiences since its 2011 debut, instantly securing its place among the world’s finest venues.

Don’t sleep on the Show-Me museum scene either: The St. Louis Science Center is a complete weekend-killer, and not just for the kids. Then skip out west to Kansas City, where the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art will inspire awe with both classic and modern art forms.

Between these two cultural powerhouses, Missouri dazzles with an endless array of museums, high-energy sports, and culinary delights. Whether you’re exploring Powell Gardens’ lush landscapes near Kansas City or wandering the enchanting Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, every corner of the state invites discovery.