Bethel Music and award-winning Christian hip-hop artist KB will headline Open Skies Topeka at Evergy Plaza in September.
TOPEKA, Kan. — Internationally recognized Christian artists will take the stage in downtown Topeka this fall for a free concert celebrating music, community and the city’s place in religious history.
Open Skies Topeka is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 26, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Evergy Plaza, 630 S. Kansas Ave. The event is free and open to the public.
The concert will feature Bethel Music with Jenn Johnson and Dove Award-winning Christian hip-hop artist KB. Topeka native and boxer John Cantrell is also scheduled to appear and share his personal testimony.
Organizers describe Open Skies as an evening of worship, hope and community intended to bring together people from different churches and Christian traditions. Those who do not identify with a particular faith tradition are also invited to attend.
“Come for the music, come with questions, come to worship or simply come experience the night with your community,” AIM 5 Foundation founder Cody Foster said in the event announcement.
Bethel Music has become one of the most prominent organizations in contemporary worship music. Its catalog includes widely performed songs such as “Goodness of God,” “Raise a Hallelujah,” “It Is Well” and “Reckless Love.”
KB is a rapper, pastor and author whose albums have reached the top of Billboard’s Christian Albums chart. His work combines hip-hop performances with messages focused on faith, purpose and hope.
The concert also arrives during the 125th anniversary of the 1901 Topeka Outpouring, an event widely associated with the beginnings of the modern Pentecostal movement.
Events at Charles Parham’s Bethel Bible School in Topeka helped launch a religious movement that would eventually spread internationally. Organizers hope the concert will introduce a new generation to that history while highlighting the broader influence religious communities have had on Topeka.
“Topeka has a remarkable story of faith that stretches back nearly to the city’s founding, and Open Skies gives us an opportunity to share that story with a new generation,” Visit Topeka President Sean Dixon said.
Organizers also point to the influence of Christian abolitionists and Free-State settlers, the Congregationalist roots of Washburn University and Topeka minister Charles Sheldon, whose 1896 novel In His Steps popularized the question, “What would Jesus do?”
The inaugural event is being organized by the AIM 5 Foundation, a Christian organization that works with community partners and supports local initiatives. In addition to live music, the evening is expected to include food trucks and other activities.
Organizers said they anticipate thousands of people could attend and believe Open Skies could become one of the largest events held at Evergy Plaza.
Additional information is available through the official Evergy Plaza calendar and the Visit Topeka event announcement.
