COVID canceled all the Wichita fun in 2020. But it’s coming back, starting next month
Throughout 2020, the news kept getting worse for long-time Wichita events and the people who love them. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the big community parties Wichita looks forward to every year — from Riverfest to the Downtown Chili Cookoff to the Sedgwick County Fair — kept getting canceled. Even the concerts were postponed.
Now, as Wichita heads into the spring of 2021, things are looking up. Organizers of several events are taking cautious steps forward, hoping that warmer weather and an increasingly vaccinated population will allow them to stage their events safely.
In stark contrast to last year’s calendar, the rest of 2021 is quickly filling up with events. Following is a list of some of the gatherings Wichita missed last year that organizers have put back on the calendar. Keep in mind that many will still require mask wearing and social distancing.
April
Fair Food & Tunes: This event is intended as a bit of a makeup for last year’s missed Kansas State Fair and a look forward to this year’s fair, which will return in September. It will happen from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, April 10, on the fairgrounds in Hutchinson and will feature fair food vendors selling Pronto Pups, funnel cakes and more as well as live music on the stage near Lake Talbott. The giant slide on the fairgrounds also will be open. Admission is free, though on-grounds parking will be $5.
Wichita Women’s Fair: The big shopping event that happens every year at Century II was postponed last year but will return April 23-25 to the venue’s Expo Hall. Tickets are now on sale at www.wichitatix.com and are $10 for adults, $6 for ages 7-12, $9 for seniors and free for children 6 and under. The fair’s hours will be noon to 7 p.m. April 23, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 24 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 25.
Midwest Winefest: It didn’t happen in 2020, but the Midwest Winefest — a fundraiser for Guadalupe Clinic — is returning in 2021, though it will be downsized. Organizers won’t be putting on the big Grand Tasting in Century II that’s usually the festival’s main attraction, but they will offer the Old Town Walkabout on April 29 and a Reserve Room event on April 30. The Walkabout, which will last from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., will feature a long list of Old Town businesses passing out food and wine samples. Tickets are $75 and on sale now at midwestwinefest.org/events/walkabout. The Reserve Room will be an event featuring upscale wines and a plated dinner served at The Vail, 110 N. Mosley. Tickets to the event, which will also feature a live auction and a dueling pianos performance, are $250 a person.
Art at the Arb: Bartlett Arboretum in Belle Plaine will be returning with its annual Art at the Arb event, which will happen April 10 and 11. It will feature more than 100 visual and performing artists, 40,000 tulips in bloom, food vendors and live music. It will happen from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 10 and from noon to 5 p.m. on April 11. Admission is a $10 donation at the gate.
Opening event at the new baseball stadium: The new $90 million Riverfront Stadium at 300 S. Sycamore, which has been sitting finished but vacant through much of the pandemic, will make its debut on April 10 with a game featuring the Wichita State University Shockers vs. the Houston Cougars. Tickets will be limited, and first priority will go to Wichita Wind Surge and Wichita State baseball season ticket holders. Purchasing information will be available soon at www.WindSurge.com
Music Theatre Wichita: This popular local theater company was unable to perform its 2020 season, but it’ll be back this year with a shortened schedule and a couple of new venues. MTW will open its 50th anniversary season April 28-May 2 with performances of “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” outdoors at the Capitol Federal Amphitheater in Andover. The season will continue with “No More Talk of Darkness,” a cabaret show by Jeremy Stolle that will be staged May 13-18 at the amphitheater. Then, MTW will go back to Century II — through audiences will spread out in the Convention Hall rather than cram into the Concert Hall — for a performance of a new musical called “Mirette” June 15-20. The next show will be “Red White and Broadway” July 2-4 at the amphitheater, followed by a show called “Golden MTW at 50” Aug. 25-29 at the Century II Convention Hall. The final show of the season will be “Grease,” staged Sept. 15-18 in the amphitheater. More information and tickets are available at mtwichita.org.
Tulip Festival at Botanica: Last year, Botanica’s executive director Marty Miller gamely gave quarantined Wichitans online tours of the blooming tulips at Botanica, 701 Amidon. This year, they can see them in person. The venue’s Tulip Festival will return on April 10, 17 and 24 and will offer people a chance to see more than 66,000 tulips blooming all over the gardens. Each installment will also feature live music, food trucks, a petting zoo and carousel rides. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for youth and military members. They’re available at botanica.org/tulip-fest.
Wichita Gridiron: This annual spoof show written by and starring local journalists was just about to take the stage in 2020 when COVID-19 canceled everything. It will return this year to a new venue and will also include an online component. The show will be staged at 8 p.m. on April 30 and on May 1 at Roxy’s Downtown, 412 1/2 E. Douglas. A limited number of in-person seats will be available for $38 a person, but people can also pay $22.75 and live stream the show from home. Tickets for the streaming pass are available at SPJ.booktix.com. In-person tickets can be purchased by calling Roxy’s at 316-265-4400.
May
First home game for the Wichita Wind Surge: Wichita’s new baseball team, a Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, was supposed to start play in the big new Riverfront Stadium last April, but the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season. The team will now make its debut on Tuesday, May 11, during a game against the Amarillo Sod Poodles. Seating will be limited. Tickets will be available at www.milb.com.
Orpheum reopening: The Wichita Orpheum has been dark for a year as organizers were forced to postpone events because of COVID-19. But they’re almost ready to get audiences back in and are working on details for a reopening concert that’s likely to happen in late May. Then, they’ll start their regular slate of shows back up in August, beginning with performances by comedian Bert Kreischer on Sunday, Aug. 29. Check wichitaorpheum.com for a schedule of shows.
June
Bradley Fair summer concert series: The outdoor concerts that happen every summer at this shopping center at 21st and Rock were canceled in 2020. But they will be back this summer. Though organizers are still working out all the details, they plan to start the series on June 3 and offer a concert every Thursday for five weeks.
Wichita Riverfest Part I: Organizers of Wichita’s biggest party — which was canceled for the first time in its 49-year-history in 2020 — are bringing it back this year but are splitting it into two parts. Part I happens from June 4 through 6 and will include a lineup of the festival’s popular outdoor components that can be conducted in a socially distanced manner, including the River Run, a softball tournament, an outdoor painting festival, a Riverfest triathlon, a paddle board 5K and a couple of virtual parades. Registration has already started for the River Run at RiverRunWichita.com. The second half of the festival will happen in the fall, and you can see details on it under the September heading in this story.
Symphony in the Flint Hills: This popular annual concert was canceled last year because of COVID-19, but it will return for its 16th annual installment on June 12 on North Lakeview Pasture in Morris County, just outside of Council Grove. The day’s lineup, which will be highlighted by a sunset concert by the Kansas City Symphony, also will include food and drink, story circles, cowboy poetry and star gazing. Tickets are $95 for adults, $50 for children 12 and under and are available at symphonyintheflinthills.org/signature-event/
Blooms, Brews, and Bloody Marys: This event, a Botanica fundraiser that fills the gardens with food and drink samples, was canceled last year but will return on June 24. Organizers are still working on details. Tuesdays on the Terrace concerts, however, won’t happen this summer.
July
Sedgwick County Fair: This event came under fire when it was one of the first events to announce its cancellation last May. But it will return this year and is scheduled for July 7-10 at the fairgrounds in Cheney. “There’ll still be some rules to follow and we hope everyone will have had their Covid Vaccine by then so we can all get together and have a great time at the Fair,” says the announcement on the event’s website, which promises all the event’s favorite attractions will be back along with a “surprise or two of something new.”
Intrust Bank Arena shows: The arena has been hosting Thunder games — and also served as a polling place in fall and as an early COVID-19 vaccination site. But it might be able to resume its concert lineup this summer, though nothing is certain, said Christine Pileckas, director of booking and marketing for the arena. The calendar still lists The Dude Perfect Tour on July 11, followed by a reschedule show by Backstreet Boys on Sept. 11. But the music industry is still in a “wait-and-see” pattern, Pilkeckas said, and although the arena is hopeful that third and fourth quarter shows will go on as planned, they won’t know for sure what artists are planning until the show dates get closer.
September
Wichita Riverfest Part II: The second half of the 2021 Wichita Riverfest will happen from Sept. 30 through Oct. 3 and will look more like the festival that fans are used to. It will include four nights of concerts, a fireworks show, the food court and more. That part of the festival will be gated and will require a button for entry. It will be staged on and near Century II’s Kennedy Plaza downtown as usual. Buttons for the fall festival will go on sale in late August and they’ll be the same price as last year — $10 for adults and $5 for children. Anyone who bought a 2020 button can use it for the festival in 2021.
Wichita Wagonmaster’s Downtown Chili Cookoff: COVID-19 canceled last year’s big downtown chili cookoff, which always draws big crowds. But in February, the Wagonmasters announced that they would put on the 2021 festival “come hell or high water, snowpocalypse, international pandemic, earthquakes or other.” It’s set for Sept. 25, but the Wagonmasters are still working out exactly where they’ll set it up.
Walnut Valley Festival: This big annual music festival, which always draws crowds of acoustic music fans to Winfield in September, was postponed in 2020 but will be back this year. The 49th annual festival is set for Sept. 15-19 and will feature live performances from groups like The Dillards, The Steel Wheels, Pretend Friend, Damn Tall Buildings, Appalachian Road Show, The Cowboy Way and more. Advance tickets are on sale at www.wvfest.com and also may be purchased by phone at 620-221-3250 or during business hours at the festival office at 918 Main St. in Winfield.
Kansas State Fair: The fair was canceled in 2020, but it will be back and will be “one of the biggest and best fairs ever,” said interim general manager Ed Berger. “There’s a huge amount of pent up demand for the fair.” The event, which is scheduled for Sept. 10-19 at the fairgrounds in Hutchinson, will feature most of the grandstand performers who were supposed to appear in 2020, including Nelly, Newsboys, 38 Special and Tracy Lawrence. At this point, Berger said, the fair isn’t planning any major changes to its usual setup. Tickets are on sale now at www.kansasstatefair.com.
October
Tallgrass Film Festival: This annual festival happened last fall in a virtual format, and organizers found that patrons liked the watch-at-home option. The festival will return this year and run Oct. 20-24, though organizers still aren’t sure exactly what format it will take. They’re leaning toward a hybrid model that blends in-person and at-home screenings and possibly includes a few parties. They’ll make a final decision in the coming months, they said.
November
Broadway in Wichita: This group postponed its planned Broadway shows at Century II last year but will start them back up in November with performances of “The Simon & Garfunkel Story” on Nov. 3, “Stomp” Nov. 26-27 and “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical” Dec. 14-16. “An Officer and A Gentleman” will happen March 21-23, 2022, and “The Lion King,” which was originally scheduled for October of this year, will also be performed in spring 2022, though dates are not yet finalized. Get ticket info at https://americantheatreguild.com/wichita/shows/
This story was originally published March 18, 2021 at 1:58 PM.
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