Wichita Eagle Medallion Hunt, a Riverfest tradition, returns on Monday, $1,000 at stake
It’s been more than two years since Wichita has searched parks and sifted through underbrush looking for the Riverfest medallion.
There was no hunt in 2020 because COVID-19 made sure there was no festival. The 2021 festival is on, but the bulk of the events won’t happen until next weekend.
Now, it’s almost time to search again. The Eagle Medallion Hunt is returning on Monday, though it will be abbreviated.
The hunt is a Riverfest tradition that offers up cryptic clues meant to lead players to a 2-inch plastic coin hidden on public property in Sedgwick County. The person who decodes the clues and finds the medallion gets $1,000.
This year’s special fall installment of the Riverfest opens on Thursday and runs through Oct. 3. Organizers put on the first half of the festival, usually a nine-day event, back in June, when it staged outdoor participatory events like the River Run and a softball tournament.
Because this part of the festival, which will include concerts and the food court, will be only four days, the hunt will have only five clues.
The first one will be released at 7 a.m. on Monday, and a new clue will follow every morning through Friday. The clues can be found at kansas.com and they’ll also be posted by noon each day near the front doors of the Wichita Eagle offices at 330 N. Mead. They won’t run in the print edition of the paper.
The contest will end at midnight on Oct. 1 or whenever the medallion is found.
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In 2019, the Medallion was found by buddies Bryan Edwards and Justin Selby on the fifth day of the hunt — wrapped in a brown QuikTrip napkin and tucked inside a crack in a knee-high limestone retaining wall just north of the Lincoln Street Dam, on the east bank of the Arkansas River. Hunters are encouraged to keep in mind that no Medallion Hunt clues, nor the hiding place, require entry onto private property.
This is the 46th anniversary of the Medallion Hunt, nearly as old as the Riverfest itself.
Whoever finds the medallion should call 316-268-6200 and leave a detailed description of where the Medallion was found as well as contact information during normal business hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Medallion must be returned to The Eagle by 3 p.m. on Monday, October 4, or no one wins the prize.
The contest is open to legal residents of Kansas who are at least 18 years old as of Sept. 27, 2021. Employees and their immediate family members of The Wichita Eagle, the McClatchy Company, and Wichita Festivals Inc., and board members of Wichita Festivals Inc. and their immediate family, are not eligible to participate.
For full contest rules, visit kansas.com/riverfest
This story was originally published September 24, 2021 at 4:14 AM.
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