Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Kansas City Ballet, Kansas City Symphony, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City Announce New COVID-19 Protocols

To address the current COVID-19 public health concerns, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, in partnership with the Kansas City Ballet, Kansas City Symphony, Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Harriman-Jewell Series, will implement new COVID-19 protocols.

Effective Sept. 6, all patrons who enter the building to attend public performances must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Masks will also be required, regardless of vaccination status, while inside the building, except while eating or drinking in designated locations.

We continue to evaluate the ever-changing circumstances in hope that children under 12 years of age can safely attend public performances in time for the holiday season. At the current time, we are unable to accommodate children under 12, or any unvaccinated patrons for public performances. The Kauffman Center in collaboration with its partners will reevaluate this policy on an on-going basis and may adjust according to public health circumstances. The Kauffman Center will continue to monitor information as it is shared by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the City of Kansas City, MO and partners. For more information, visit CDC and the World Health Organization.

The Kauffman Center has a health and safety plan in place. For further details, please visit the Kauffman Center Health and Safety page for current information.

Kauffman Center President and CEO Paul Schofer stated, "Amid growing public concern around COVID-19 and to provide as many safety precautions as possible for our community, the Kauffman Center, Kansas City Ballet, Kansas City Symphony, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Harriman-Jewell Series are implementing this layer of protection to provide the highest level of public safety for audiences, event staff, and volunteers. We feel that this measure, hopefully a temporary one, will allow us to welcome audiences safely back into the Kauffman Center. It's clear that all of us in the community need to work together to successfully combat this virus and end the pandemic. We hope that our guests will be comforted by our joint efforts to keep our patrons safe."

Under this new policy, anyone entering Kauffman Center to attend a public performance will need to show proof of vaccination at time of entry with a valid ticket. "Fully vaccinated" means the day of a performance is at least 14 days after the second dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccination or at least 14 days after the single-dose COVID-19 vaccination. There will be no exceptions. We continue to evaluate the ever-changing circumstances in hope that children under 12 years of age can safely attend public performances in time for the holiday season. At the current time, we are unable to accommodate children under 12, or any unvaccinated patrons for public performances.

Patrons with tickets for performances will be directly contacted by the presenting or producing arts organization, alerting them of this new COVID-19 protocol and assisting them with any questions. For any specific questions, please contact the organization where tickets were initially purchased.

For a complete schedule of the performances impacted by the new COVID-19 protocols at the Kauffman Center visit kauffmancenter.org.