Travis Kelce brings back music festival in Kansas City with Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, Diplo as headliners
FILE – Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) waves after the NFL Super Bowl 58 football game against the San Francisco 49ers Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas. Kelce will bring his highly successful music festival called Kelce Jam back to Kansas City. The second annual one-day event held on May 18 will be hosted by the superstar tight end of the Chiefs and headlined by Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, Diplo and local legend Tech N9ne. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Travis Kelce is keeping himself busy: On the heels of winning his third Super Bowl, earning a Webby nomination for his podcasting endeavors and garnering headlines for his newfound relationship with Taylor Swift, the superstar tight end will continue living his best life with his annual music festival next month.
Kelce announced Tuesday the headliners for his second annual Kelce Jam festival. The event will be held May 18 and livestreamed from the Azura Amphitheater in Bonner Springs, Kansas — a metropolitan area of Kansas City.
The event will feature performances by Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz and Diplo.
“I like to keep it fresh, new and keep people coming back for more,” said Kelce, whose festival brought out 20,000 attendees last year. He said his event will continue to celebrate the success of the Chiefs, who won their third championship in four trips after defeating the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 58 in February.
Along with Kelce’s on-field triumphs, he’s thrived away from the football field, too. He along with his brother, Jason Kelce, a recent NFL retiree, earned a Webby nomination Tuesday for their flourishing podcast “New Heights.” He’s also appeared in countless headlines for his relationship with Swift, a 14-time Grammy winner who recently set the award’s record with the most album of the year wins.
Swift is not expected to attend Kelce Jam since she’s scheduled to perform on tour on the same date in Stockholm, Sweden. But even though she might not be in attendance, Kelce — who has displayed a strong stage presence — said he might ask Swift for some tips.
“The only thing I can learn from her that translates into how I can perform is just how relatable she is on stage,” said Kelce, who hosted “Saturday Night Live” last year. “She’s very comfortable. She brings everybody into the room with her. She makes it an intimate setting even though there’s 70,000 people at every show. It’s pretty impressive.”
Kelce said safety has been a top priority entering Kelce Jam after the Chiefs’ Super Bowl rally shooting that resulted in the death of a woman and nearly two dozen injuries.
“Our hearts and hands are still out to the families and everybody involved and everything that happened at the parade,” said Kelce, who reportedly donated $100,000 to families of the two kids who were shot during the parade. Swift donated the same amount to the family of the woman who was killed in the shooting.
The event’s producers, Medium Rare, said safety measures will be expanded by bringing in a “specialized live event security and risk team” who have worked on high-profile festivals such as the U.S. Open, Coachella and Lollapalooza.
“It’s still a touchy subject knowing how serious it was,” Kelce said. “We’re definitely taking security extremely serious at Kelce Jam. You’ll definitely feel safe being there.”
In all, Kelce said he wants to bring joy to a city that has celebrated him and his team. He hopes his teammate and three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes can join the festivities this time.
“I think it’s going to keep going up,” he said. “Hopefully we keep winning Super Bowls so we got something to celebrate.”