Wichita’s biggest foodie party started as a low-key affair with a ‘cheese chuckwagon’

Back in 1980s, right about the time Zoobilee first became a thing in Wichita, the event was a much more modest affair.

Tickets to the fundraiser cost $37.50, according to an article from an October 1980 edition of The Wichita Eagle, and admission included “membership in the zoological society.”

There’d be plenty of refreshments, the article promised, served from a “chuckwagon full of cheese, wine and hors d’oeuvres.”

Organizers Helen Galloway, Mary Lynn Priest and Mary Lou Bledsoe were hopeful that the event, which would also include a magic show and some country folk-singing, would attract 400 people.

Nearly 40 years later, Zoobilee is anything but a modest affair. The event, which returns for its annual installment on Saturday, has since become the Sedgwick County Zoo’s signature fundraiser, bringing in a profit of about $700,000, which the zoo uses to feed the animals for the year, said Jennica King, the zoo’s PR manager.

Tickets are a bit more expensive now. Early-bird buyers this year got them for $135 a person. Last-minute shoppers will pay $150 (all but of $30 of which is tax deductible, King points out.)

But attendees get a lot for their money. The chuckwagon of cheese has been replaced by a list of 55 restaurants, offering bites of food to guests who roam the zoo nibbling and sipping adult beverages through the evening.

The country folk-singing has morphed into a lineup of eight well-known local bands rocking out at various spots throughout the zoo.

And the number of attendees has jumped – just a tad – from 400 in 1980 to about 6,000 now.

Tickets are still available for the event, which happens from 6 p.m. to midnight on Saturday at the zoo, 5555 W. Zoo Blvd.

This year, organizers are instituting a few changes. The most noticeable to longtime attendees will be the fact that wine samples, which previously were spread throughout the zoo, will be concentrated near the field that sits across from the African Veldt exhibit and has always had a large auxiliary bar and a few restaurant booths. That field also will be the new home of the silent auction.

Also, the area across from the amphibian and reptile exhibit, where the silent auction used to happen, now will be home to a “sports lounge,” where people who would rather watch football games than roam the zoo sipping and socializing can sit down and relax.

Organizers also are adding a new element. I will have a small crew of judges at the event tasting the food provided by all the restaurants and deciding who brought the best bite. We appreciate any stomach-expanding thoughts you can send our way.

Several new restaurants have agreed to participate this year, including 6S Steakhouse and VietNom Nom as well as first-time vendor Bionic Burger. Also on the list of restaurants are Wichita favorites Hog Wild Pit BBQ, River City Brewery, Los Compadres, Deano’s, Augustino Brewing Company and Molino’s.

Zoobilee day is the only day of the entire year that the Sedgwick County Zoo is closed to visitors, so keep that in mind if you’re planning to take the kids this weekend. This year, zoo administrators have also decided to open late on the morning after to allow more time for cleanup. On Sunday, the zoo opens at noon.

Zoobilee tickets will be available at the door on Friday and are still available online today at scz.org/event/zoobilee.

This story was originally published September 5, 2018 at 5:16 PM.