ICT Brunch Fest, a new event celebrating the national brunch trend, happens this weekend

Brunch — the social weekend event that stars culinary favorites like mimosas, benedicts and scrambles — appears to be THE meal of the 2020s.

And this weekend, a Wichita group is putting on a brunch-centric event designed to celebrate it.

Festive ICT, the group known for putting together Wichita Taco Fest, Margaritas & Mojitos, the Shop & Grub monthly market and more, have come up with ICT Brunch Fest, a first-time event set for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday at OJ Watson Park. It will feature a lineup of 15 local restaurants, food trucks and food vendors offering “brunch bites” as well as four beverage vendors offering coffee, mimosas, sangria and tequila sunrises.

It will be staged in OJ Watson Park’s indoor/outdoor Seasons Venue and will invite ticket holders to collect bites from each of the participating restaurants, including First Mile Kitchen, Chicken & Pickle, Jumbo’s Beef and Brew and more. Once they’re inside, the food and the beverages are all free.

A panel of judges will choose a favorite brunch bite, and attendees also will vote on their top two favorites. The top vote-getters will get trophies.

Nnanna Okpara, the owner of Festive ICT, said that he’d been working on a brunch fest idea for a few years and was “just trying to figure out how we would make it work here in Wichita.” He finally did it, he said, and decided to give some of the proceeds to a local nonprofit called Insight 2 Heal, whose goal is to promote mindfulness, movement and self-care practices.

Tickets to the event are $75 or two for $140 if ordered by Friday. They go up to $85 on Saturday. All tickets must be purchased at www.ictbrunchfest.com

Keep reading for a list of food and drink vendors:

Brunch Bites provided by:

First Mile Kitchen

Public at the Brickyard

Egg Cetera

Chicken & Pickle

Bagatelle Bakery

Wichita Cheesecake Company

Jumbo’s Beef & Brew

Waffles N Stuff (food truck)

El Gusto Mexican Eatery (food truck)

Roxie’s on the River

Big Granny’s (food truck)

Mi Sueno (pop-up stand)

Tacos Pina (food stand)

Sol Food (vegan food stand)

Konkeh Artisan Alfajor Pastries (food stand)

Brunch beverages provided by:

The Bar’s Open

Grace Hill Winery

Esperanza Coffee Roasters

Coffee Daze

Denise Neil

The Wichita Eagle

316-268-6327

Denise Neil has covered restaurants and entertainment since 1997. Her Dining with Denise Facebook page is the go-to place for diners to get information about local restaurants. She’s a regular judge at local food competitions and speaks to groups all over Wichita about dining.