This year’s Admiral Windwagon Smith will seem rather familiar to Riverfest fans
The COVID-19 pandemic not only canceled the 2020 Wichita Riverfest, it robbed last year’s Admiral Windwagon Smith of the chance to properly don the red coat.
So the festival has invited the 2020 admiral — retired Fidelity Bank executive Clay Bastian — to give it another go.
On Thursday, festival organizers revealed that Bastian would serve again as the ceremonial figurehead of the festival, which this year is being divided into two parts: the first a non-gated event scheduled for June 4-6 that includes the River Run and other outdoor activities, and the second a more traditional Riverfest complete with a parade, fireworks, the food court and concerts, which will happen Sept. 30 through Oct. 3.
Bastian is a longtime festival volunteer and sponsor who spent his career at his family’s Fidelity Bank before retiring in 2018. His appointment as the 47th Admiral Windwagon Smith will extend another year, and he’ll be asked to serve as the event’s ceremonial leader. He’ll work as an ambassador, wearing the traditional red nautical coat and captain’s hat, and will make appearances at nearly every event.
He’d just been named admiral last spring when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, leading to the cancellation of festival for the first time in its 49-year history. Nearly all of his appearances and speaking engagements were also canceled.
Festival organizers did not put on an in-person admiral reveal this year, as has been the tradition, instead announcing Bastian’s do-over with a fun video that also included a tribute to late admirals from the past, snippets of living past admirals and the introduction of the Prairie Schooner Mates, a group of local high school students who assist the admiral in his mission.
During his career with Fidelity, Bastian worked in marketing, real estate, tax management, capital markets financing and regulatory liaisons for 38 years.
His involvement with the festival started when he helped organize the Fidelity-sponsored Riverbank Jazz concerts from 1991 to 1995. In 2008, he joined the festival’s Board of Directors and went on to serve as board chair in 2011.
He’s been a member of the festival’s elite Operations Committee, whose members are better known as the Red Shirts, since 2012 and has served on many committees.
Bastian, a Wichita native and the youngest of three siblings, has been married to wife, Kate, for 34 years, and they have a son and daughter. He’s a motorcycle enthusiast who loves jazz music.
This story was originally published April 1, 2021 at 6:15 PM.
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