Time to shop, girls: The Wichita Women’s Fair returns this weekend for its 27th year
Wichita’s weekend entertainment calendar will be filled with lots of shopping, both indoors at the Wichita Women’s Fair and outdoors at the Shop & Grub season debut.
It will also be filled with live music that will appeal to fans of jazz, blues and soft rock.
Following is a guide to some of the fun things happening in Wichita this weekend.:
Women’s Fair weekend
Friday-Sunday, Century II Expo Hall, 225 W. Douglas
The 27th annual Women’s Fair returns to Century II’s Expo Hall this weekend and will run Friday through Sunday. The event will feature fashion shows, cooking demonstrations, wine and food sampling and plant projects. More than 300 exhibitors will be there, including vendors selling kitchenware, clothes, accessories, Kansas items and food. Other highlights include a cocktail mixology class on Friday, a doggie fashion show on Saturday, and a Family Funday party on Sunday. The fair will be open from noon to 7 p.m. on Friday; from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday; and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $13 for adults, $12 for seniors, $10 for children 6 and up, and free for children 5 and under. Groups of 10 or more get in for $12 a person. Get tickets at the Century II Box Office, at selectaseat.com or by calling 316-755-7328. Tickets, as well as the full schedule of events, are also available at womensfair.com
Spring Blues Crawl
4 p.m. Sunday, various downtown venues
The 2025 Wichita Blues Society annual Spring Blues Crawl happens on Sunday and will feature live blues bands at Mort’s (Lonesome Stranger), Walker’s Jazz Lounge (Ms. Lady Dee & the Shadow Daddy’s), Barleycorn’s (George Sanders Blues Band), Emerson Biggins (Made from Scratch) and Brickyard (Cleveland Blue). It also includes an after party with Nick Schnebelen at Brickyard. Doors open for the main shows at 3 p.m., and the music runs from 4 to 7 p.m. The after party starts at 9 p.m. A $20 wristband is good for access to all venues and the after party. Wristbands are available at each venue. For more information, visit wichitablues.org
Wichita Jazz Fest finale
7 p.m. Saturday, Orpheum Theatre, 200 N. Broadway
The grand finale of the 53rd annual Wichita Jazz Festival happens from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday at The Orpheum Theatre. It will include a performance by vocalist April May Webb with Randall Haywood on trumpet, Jacob Webb on bass, Nathan Webb on drums and Yayoi Ikawa on piano. Matt Wison’s Good Trouble will also perform. Tickets are $45-$75 at www,selectaseat.com, by phone at 316-755-7328 or in person at the Select-a-Seat box office at Intrust Bank Arena.
Shop & Grub season opener
11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Exploration Place’s Riverfront Amphitheater, 300 M. McLean
Shop & Grub, an annual warm-weather outdoor market by Festive ICT, returns for its fifth year on Sunday. The market will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Exploration Place’s Riverfront Amphitheater, and a second spring installment will happen on May 18. Shop & Grub features more than 40 vendors offering jewelry, clothing, home goods, accessories and artwork, and there’s always food for sale. The market will switch to a summer schedule on June 21, when it will run from 5 to 10 p.m. at the same location. The other two summer markets will happen on July 19 and Aug. 16. Admission is free.
Five For Fighting in concert
8 p.m. Sunday, The Cotillion,
Grammy-nominated performer Five for Fighting will be in concert at The Cotillion on Sunday and will bring a string quartet. Five for Fighting, also known as Vladimir John Ondrasik II, is behind soft-rock hits including “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” and “100 Years.” His opening act will be Lace and Lee. The show starts at 8 p.m., and doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $35 to $75 at thecotillion.com
Visit trains for free
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Great Plains Transportation Museum, 700 E. Douglas
Have a kid who loves trains? Wichita’s Great Plains Transportation Museum is putting on an open house from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, and the event will include food trucks, music and an unveiling of the newly restored exteriors of the Rock Island caboose and Santa Fe drovers car. Admission is free.