DJ Dawna

DJ Dawna, the stage name of Kansas City DJ Dawna Konkel, is an open-format DJ and emcee who works club nights, corporate events, school dances and large-scale sporting events. Her path into performance began in costume rather than behind decks: from 2002 to 2012 she built and performed in mascot programs through middle school, high school and college, learning to hold a crowd through movement and music without speaking. She worked at her campus radio station and then spent about four years at Kansas City radio stations in roles running from intern and board operator to morning show producer and on-air talent. In 2012 she began learning event production and emceeing with a mobile DJ company; by 2016 her reputation with schools and private clients had grown enough that she made DJing her full-time career. She handles game-day presentation for Sporting Kansas City, has also worked Kansas City Royals games, and is a resident DJ at Cougar Club, an age-inclusive Kansas City dance party series that runs at The Ship. Her other bookings span corporate conferences, charity 5Ks and walks, United Way events, wellness gatherings including the Living in Vitality conference and Wild Love Retreats, pool parties and birthdays, and she also gives keynote talks on burnout. She works open-format rather than within a single genre, pairing the sets with live emcee work and crowd engagement, and she programs regular nights at Kansas City rooms including The Ship, Nighthawk and Mosaic. She is billed on the Cougar Club afterparty for KKFI's Crossroads Music Fest in September 2026, and plays outdoor Kansas City spaces such as Lemonade Park.

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