Four big weekend events will crowd into Century II in downtown Wichita this weekend
If you’re looking for something fun to do this weekend, just go to Century II. Something will be going on every day under downtown’s big blue dome:
Four big events will take place on its different stages and in its two big convention spaces: the big Holiday Galleria shopping event in the Expo Hall today through Sunday; an Elton John Tribute show in Mary Jane Teall Theater on Saturday night; the Wichita Flea Market in the Exhibition hall Saturday and Sunday; and two concerts opening the Wichita Symphony Orchestra’s 2024-2025 season on Saturday and Sunday.
Here’s a guide to those events and to a few others happening at other venues in Wichita, including the annual Woofstock dog party at Sedgwick County Park.
Holiday Galleria
Friday-Sunday, Century II Expo Hall, 225 W. Douglas
Holiday Galleria, The Junior League’s annual shopping event, returns this weekend and will feature 120 regional and national vendors set up in the Century II Expo Hall. This year marks 19 years for the fundraising event, which will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. General admission for ages 13 and over is $15. The event has other add-on tickets available, including one for a breakfast with Santa that happens at 10 a.m. Saturday and is $25 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under. All tickets are available at www.selectaseat.com or by phone at 316-755-7328. They’ll also be available at the door.
Flea Market weekend
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Century II Exhibition Hall
The Wichita Flea Market is on the move again and will happen this weekend at the Century II Exhibition Hall – right next door to the Holiday Galleria. It will last from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday and will feature more than 200 vendors selling items like crafts, antiques, jewelry, clothing and home decor. This month’s event also will feature trick-or-treating for kids, who can go booth-to-booth collecting candy. It also will have a Halloween costume contest with $100 cash prizes for the best kid, shopper and vendor costumes. Admission is $4 for a one-day pass and $5 for a two-day pass. Tickets can be purchased at www.selectaseat.com and at the Century II Box Office on the northeast corner of the venue.
Elton John Tribute
7 p.m. Friday, Century II, 225 W. Douglas
Fans of Elton John can spend an evening in Wichita this weekend with the next best thing: a tribute act called Tom’s Elton Tribute. It features Tom Cridland – a close friend of Elton John’s drummer – on lead vocals and piano, and audiences will hear songs like “Tiny Dancer,” “Rocket Man,” “Candle In The Wind,” “Bennie and the Jets” and more. The show starts at 7 p.m. Friday at Century II’s Mary Jane Teall Theater. Tickets are $25 to $40 at www.selectaseat.com, by phone at 316-755-7328 or in person at the Century II Box office or at the Select-a-Seat box office inside Intrust Bank Arena.
Symphony season returns
7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday, Century II Concert Hall
The Wichita Symphony Orchestra will kick off its 2024-2026 season with performances this weekend featuring acclaimed pianist Stewart Goodyear. Saturday’s show — “Mozart & Rachmaninoff” — starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Century II Concert Hall and will feature performances of Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto and Chopin’s Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Major Tickets are $30 to $85. Then, at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Goodyear will put on a solo piano recital where attendees will gather around the Steinway Concert Grand piano on the Concert Hall stage. He’ll perform pieces such as Beethoven’s Sonata No. 14, “Moonlight,” and Chopin’s Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Major, Op. 47. Tickets are $20 for students and $40 for adults. Get tickets for both shows at wichitasymphony.org/events
Woofstock 2024
10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Sedgwick County Park, 6501 W. 21st St.
An event that bills itself as the biggest dog festival in the Midwest returns this weekend to the Sedgwick County Park. Woofstock, a fundraiser for the Kansas Humane Society, happens from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and will include an agility course, pet-friendly vendors, a pet photo booth, food trucks, a beer garden and live music from Tequila Ridge and Dangie Music. The event also will feature a limited supply of free microchips and vaccinations for dogs. Tickets are $15, $5 for ages 6-12 and free for ages 5 and under. A $30 VIP ticket includes a T-shirt, event bag and doggy bandanna, and a $40 ticket includes all of that plus access to a 9 a.m. walk and breakfast for people and dogs. Tickets are available at kshumane.org and at the gate.
It’s First Friday
Friday evening, art galleries and venues around Wichita
It’s First Friday in Wichita, meaning that lots of art galleries and venues across town will be opening shows, putting on receptions and organizing other fun events for art lovers. One First Friday event this month is the opening artist Chiaw Weai Loo’s show of a show “Bug’s World,” which features playful watercolor paintings of insects on Xuan paper. It will be at Gallery 12, 412 E. Douglas, which will celebrate the opening from noon to 9 p.m. today. The show will remain on display through Oct. 26. For a complete list of Final Friday activities, visit downtownwichita.org/discover/things-to-see-and-do/first-friday
“Dear Jack, Dear Louise”
8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 27, Kechi Playhouse, 100 E. Kechi Road
Kechi Playhouse wraps up its 2024 season with a Helen Hayes Award-winner for best new play in 2020, by Ken Ludwig (“Lend Me a Tenor,” “Moon Over Buffalo”). Based on the story of the playwright’s parents, U.S. Army Capt. Jack Ludwig (played by Andrew Johnson), a military doctor stationed in Oregon, begins writing to Louise Rabiner (Anna Kraus), an aspiring actress and dancer in New York City. As World War II continues, it threatens to end their relationship before it starts. Tickets are $17 Fridays-Saturdays, $16 Sundays, from 316-744-2152.