Buttons, merch for the Wichita Riverfest That Wasn’t could someday be collectors’ items
Years from now, the 2020 Wichita Riverfest button might just be a rare collector’s item, a relic of the Festival That Wasn’t.
As a way to recoup some of the massive losses from this year’s festival, which was set for May 29-June 6 but was canceled late last month because of the coronavirus pandemic, organizers are selling a limited number of packages that include buttons, T-shirts, posters and other merchandise that was already printed but now can’t be used.
The plan, said the festival’s marketing director Teri Mott, should also help satisfy the button and poster collectors who have been calling nonstop since the festival’s cancellation was announced.
“We’ve had so many people reach out to us and ask us for these products and tell us they want to support us financially,” said Mott, who estimates festival employees have fielded at least 100 calls and messages on the topic.
This week, the festival listed several “button packs” for sale on its website. A $15 option offers a program plus one adult button. A $30 option includes all of that plus a sleeker metal cloisonne pin.
There’s also a $75 “souvenir pack” that comes with an official poster, one adult button, one child button, a cloisonne pin, the official 2020 T-shirt, two Riverfest Heartlandia stickers and a 2020 Riverfest concert poster. The same package with a poster signed by the artists who created the design is $95.
Individual buttons won’t be sold, but those who get 2020 buttons in the special packages will be able to use them to get into the 20201 festival.
Orders can be made at wichitariverfest.com, and the festival offices will start mailing packages on May 5, Mott said.
The 2020 buttons will be rare, Mott said, because the festival is selling only 100 of each of the four packages, so only 400 adult buttons will hit the market. Another rarity is the concert poster included in the souvenir pack, she said. Those are usually just hung up in bars and other venues as advertisements and never get into the public’s hands, even though people always ask for copies of them.
Wichita is full of collectors who have every button or every official poster the festival has ever produced. And the 2020 button will no doubt be a talker since it will represent the first time in the festival’s 49-year run that the event was canceled.
Before the festival was called off, the offices had received all of its 2020 buttons — about 125,000 of them — but organizers are investigating ways to recycle and use them next year. They’re planning to use the same artwork next year, too, partially because they love that robot DJ so much and partially because artists Meghan and Juanta Wolfe, who created this year’s winning button design, had been trying to win the contest for so many years. The artists received $4,000 earlier this year after their design beat out 25 others that were submitted.
“They’ve earned it,” Mott said. “I just thought it was only fair. Plus it’s adorable and it deserves its moment in the sun.”
The merch sales will give the festival, which operates as a nonprofit, a way to recover a little bit of money, too, Mott said. And it’s needed. The offices are full of marketing materials that were already purchased and ready to go, not to mention all the money spent putting together events that will never happen.
“We’re just trying to cut our losses the best we can,” she said. “It’s been shocking.”
The festival is now working on putting together a Virtual Riverfest, which will launch on May 29 — the same day the actual festival was slated to start. Mott said she’ll have more details next week.
Festival officials also are working on the four-day, autumn-themed replacement event that they’re planning for Nov. 5-8 in downtown Wichita. Recently, the festival launched a contest asking people to help come up for a name for the event, and the winner gets $500.
This week, festival staffers they went out and surveyed the area on and near St. Francis Street where they’re planning to stage the fall event.
“I’m excited,” Mott said. “I think there’s some real potential in that space, and there’s a lot of space.”
Anyone who wants to suggest a name for the fall event has until May 5. Entries are being accepted at wichitariverfest.com.
This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 2:26 PM.
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