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Buy your $5 button, then have a ton of fun
BY DENISE NEIL
The Wichita Eagle
- River Festival schedule
- River Festival concert schedule
- Sundown Parade route shortened this year
- Your tween daughter will love Drew Seeley
- Button up, then show up
- Catch Caillat opening night
- Tell your taste buds: Food Court familiar
- Country star brings hits to the festival
- Get your country on
- 40 years of Three Dog Night not enough for fans
- Everything you need to know about the festival
A few don'ts if you want to make the most of opening night at the Wichita River Festival:
Don't show up without a festival button.
Don't try to watch the Sundown Parade on the Douglas Avenue bridge.
Don't expect to get into the Colbie Caillat concert without a $10 bill in your pocket.
And don't fret about the weather. Unless the forecasters are way off, it's going to be clear and calm, with temps in the 60s.
The annual nine-day festival gets going tonight with its usual lineup -- a parade followed by a concert and a fireworks show.
But organizers have made a few changes from past years that festivalgoers will want to heed to prevent long, angry walks back to the car or over to the ATM machine.
The most notable change involves the Sundown Parade route, which has been shortened by about five blocks. It won't travel over the Douglas Avenue bridge, a popular viewing spot.
The route, which is shown on a map in the festival brochure and on Page 25D in today's GO! section, starts at Second and Main, heads south on Main to Douglas, west to Waco, north to First, and east to Wichita.
It was shortened, organizers said, to avoid areas of congestion around the West Bank Stage, where thousands are expected to gather tonight for the Caillat concert.
The parade starts at 6:30 p.m. and will feature about 100 entries.
The festival has also changed a few details about the opening night concert at the West Bank Stage, which immediately follows the parade.
Last year's concert, featuring popular rock band Daughtry, was free with a $5 button -- and it was a tad chaotic. The concert drew about 40,000 people.
Caillat, an up-and-coming pop singer known for the hit "Bubbly," won't likely attract that size crowd, but those who do attend need not only their festival button, which is required for admission, but also must have $10 cash at the gate. The festival was unable to find a corporate sponsor for the event, necessitating the entry fee.
And about those buttons...
Festivalgoers might as well start the habit of wearing one tonight because the festival will keep non-button-wearers out of all of the concerts and many other marquee events this year, including the Cessna Kids Corner and the Cajun Food Fest.
Festival director Janet Wright says the festival has put together a diverse lineup, and the nine-day schedule includes events that will appeal to every age groupand demographic.
The $5 button, she said, is a small price to pay.
"Hopefully, we'll deliver a wide enough array of entertainment and activities that people will respond and come," she said. "We'll find out."
