Wichita Riverfest reveals its 2022 artwork, which revives favorite mascots from the past
.jpg "The Wichita Riverfest revealed the artwork for its 2022 button and poster on Thursday.")
It’s a bit frigid this week to be thinking much about the Wichita Riverfest, but planning for the event is underway, and festival officials have just shared the artwork that will decorate the posters and buttons in 2022.
The design for the 50th Wichita Riverfest features a variety of recognizable images from posters past, including the saxophone-playing wave from 1990, the raccoon guitarist from 2010 and the octopus from 2013, who has since learned to play the drums.
The design was created by Wichitan Joe Worley, a freelance designer and illustrator who has won the festival’s annual poster design contest once before. He also designed the 2018 poster, which featured a stylized admiral’s jacket.
His prize for this year was $4,000 provided by artwork contest sponsor Emprise Bank.
Worley said he decided in his design to resurrect many of the instrument-playing characters from past buttons, imagining that they formed their own band to celebrate 50 years.
The 2022 Riverfest will run June 3-11, and it will be the first in-person, nine-day festival since 2019. COVID-19 canceled the 2020 festival and caused the 2021 festival to be split in half.
Admission to the festival is a button. Adult buttons for ages 13 and up and child buttons for ages 6-12 will be available at QuikTrip stores starting May 6. Ages 5 and under will be admitted free.
This story was originally published February 4, 2022 at 2:44 PM.
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