Wichita’s guide to NCAA Tournament parties: ‘Until you see it, you can’t understand it’

Wichita, are you ready to party?

The NCAA Tournament is returning to Intrust Bank Arena on March 20, and indications are the festivities around the arena are going to be bigger and better than what 35,000 or so people experienced the last time the Tournament came here, in 2018.

“I was just amazed at all the parties,” said Brad Pittman, the Tournament manager whose day job is senior associate athletic director for Wichita State University.

“I was surprised, pleasantly, just by the amount of people around the arena,” Pittman said. “People just came down to have a good time and be a part of it.”

He said pleasant, warm weather helped.

Pittman said this year potentially will be bigger. A lot depends on which teams end up coming and what the weather is like.

“Those are factors that none of us can control.”

The games here are only on Thursday and Saturday, but practices start on Wednesday, and so do some of the parties.

“If people are looking for something to do low-cost, no-cost, Wednesday’s open practice day,” Pittman said.

The free event is 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on March 19.

“It’s a great entertainment option if you’re just looking for something to do,” Pittman said.

He said for people who come for the parties, it’ll be a unique experience.

“It’s just a different environment. Until you see it, you can’t understand it.”

Better prepared

Most people didn’t know what to expect the last time around.

For instance, police officials hadn’t planned to close the streets around the arena but quickly realized they needed to.

“We had people just walking all over the streets,” said Capt. Todd Ojile, bureau commander of Patrol South.

He said people walked in front of team buses and along the same streets where cars were driving.

“We just cannot have that. . . . It made it (an) extremely difficult and hazardous situation.”

Several areas around the arena will be closed to traffic this time around (see the list below), Ojile said.

“It will allow people to cross without having to worry about vehicle traffic or anything else.”

The parties are a crucial aspect of whether the Tournament here will be a success.

As part of Wichita’s bid to win the event in 2018, Visit Wichita promised a Fan Fest, as it did again this time.

“We’ve been to other sites, and these Fan Fests don’t just happen everywhere around the country,” said Josh Howell, vice president of sports development for Visit Wichita.

The idea, he said, is “to kind of enhance that fan experience.”

“It was really awesome.”

In 2018, the parties were more organic than this year. Howell said as the event got closer, the Visit Wichita staff kept hearing about more pop-up parties that were happening.

“We’re like, wow, this is pretty cool. Lets get everybody together,” he said. “It turned into this massive community event.”

That’s a plan

This year, there’s been much more extensive planning with businesses, public entities and the police all working together, starting with an initial meeting a year ago.

“Getting that . . . coordinated in advance has been really critical,” said Bruce Rowley, who is throwing a number of parties directly in front of the arena under the name Party Out Front.

Rowley said last time, there were not enough bartenders, TVs and point-of-sale terminals to get people what they wanted in a timely way.

“We’ll be much more prepared for that this time.”

Also, Rowley said, previously “we didn’t see the opportunity to really connect with all the different schools . . . that are coming.”

This time, he’s already had meetings to plan possible pep rallies at his venues.

Though the city and Visit Wichita are taking the lead with the official Fan Fest party at Naftzger Park, Howell said all the parties help when trying to bid on future NCAA events.

To see fans walking around so many places outside of the arena is “just really cool.”

Xclusive Events owner Crystal McDonald, who is working with Brick & Mortar on its parties, agreed with Rowley that the biggest takeaway from last time is “to be more prepared.”

“We didn’t expect the entire city to be so supportive . . . which we were grateful for,” she said.

McDonald said Wichita already has a lot going on in general, but she likes the broad participation for the Tournament “to make it look like a big-city feel.”

“The more parties the better. The more people that participate, the better it looks for the city.”

Visit Wichita has created a micro site at www.visitwichita.com/fancentral/ where Tournament and party information can be found, including details on transportation, parking, shopping and dining among other things.

Fan Fest at Naftzger Park

Naftzger Park wasn’t renovated yet in 2018, but now the popular green space is the city’s official Tournament party site called Fan Fest.

“It just lends itself perfectly to a Fan Fest,” Howell of Visit Wichita said.

Fan Fest will be held from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. March 20 to 22.

There will be food trucks, which will rotate depending on the day, along with alcoholic drinks for sale.

A large digital board will air games each day.

Kids and adults can play a variety of yard games, including double-ax throwing with inflatable axes.

On Thursday, there will be performances by pep bands and cheer squads.

Team mascots will make an appearance for a Friday pep rally.

That day, there also will be an Orangetheory Fitness Field Day along with a basketball-related art activity.

There will be a chance to shoot hoops each day, and there will be a DJ on site on Thursday and Saturday.

Also, all five of Audacy’s radio stations will rotate emceeing the stage and broadcasting from the event.

Howell said it should be a “lively fan zone.”

Party Out Front

Fan Fest may be the official party, but Party Out Front will be the largest. It will have parties within parties across four properties outside the arena’s front door. That’s double the space the same party had in 2018.

Unlike most other parties, Party Out Front will open from 1 to 6 p.m. March 19 for the Tournament practice sessions.

“We were pretty surprised by how many people came down here for that,” Rowley said of himself and Solly and Jude’s co-owner Alex Thomas, who are throwing Party Out Front.

Wednesday night, there will be a Welcome to Wichita party for out-of-towners arriving to watch games later in the week. Rowley and Thomas plan to reach out to potential guests through alumni organizations. Wichitans are invited as well.

Then the parties continue from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. March 20, 21 and 22.

“That generally matches up with the times of the games that are on TV across the country,” Rowley said.

Starting at the southeast corner of Waterman and Emporia, Solly & Jude’s will be open inside for private parties only “so the restaurant doesn’t just get crushed,” Rowley said.

The space can hold 75 people, and there are a few slots left.

There will be a special menu, most likely hot dogs and sliders, served to the public off of the Solly and Jude’s patio.

Moving to the east, there are two large parking lots that comprise about 100,000 square feet between Commerce Street and Solly and Jude’s.

In the west lot, which is divided by St. Francis Street, there will be a Modelo VIP lounge under a tent with tables and chairs, lots of TVs and a couple of cocktail bars. The area will be carpeted and heated.

At the remainder of the west lot, Rowley and Thomas have partnered with Standard Beverage and will have what Rowley described as all kinds of brand engagement activities, such as a Fireball pop-a-shot basketball game.

Jose Cuervo will have a monster Bronco truck on site and offer drink samples a couple of times a day.

Solly and Jude’s also will run a bar on the lot.

Everything will be open to the public. The VIP lounge already is mostly sold out, but if space permits on the days of, there will be some $30 passes that include two drinks.

Crossing St. Francis into the east lot, JT Tailgates will have what it calls America’s largest mobile restaurant with a semi full of barbecue.

“They’re capable of turning out a vast amount of barbecue,” Rowley said.

Next to that, Social Tap Drinkery is bringing out a truck that expands into a bar where it will serve 10 beers on draft along with canned beer.

Solly and Jude’s will run another bar in the center of the lot, which will include four cocktails from the J. Rieger Co. in Kansas City.

There will be TVs mounted all around along with tents and seating open to the public.

There will be another VIP lounge called Drink Local, which also will be carpeted and heated with chairs and TVs and also will cost $30 for two drinks if space is available after reservations. Everything will have a Wichita or Kansas focus.

“We thought it would be a really cool idea . . . to showcase Kansas bands,” Rowley said.

There’s also a stage where schools can hold pep rallies and spirit events.

Both lots will have what Rowley called luxury portable restrooms.

KGOS, 93.9-FM, 99.7-FM and 1410-AM, is the official broadcaster of the Tournament and will broadcast live from the east lot.

Moving east across Commerce there will be a couple more parties at the southeast corner of Waterman and Commerce.

The new Railhouse Event Venue will become the Shot Clock Lounge, a sports bar for the Tournament.

“We’re going to do something a little different here,” Rowley said.

The bar will open Sunday night for Selection Sunday.

“That’s kind of a big deal,” Rowley said of learning what teams will play in Wichita.

It also will be open March 19 through 22 and will cost $50 for passes, if space permits, that include two drinks.

In front of the Shot Clock Lounge, Walnut River Brewing will have a beer garden with TVs and DJ Carbon performing.

The Phoenix, a “sober active community” center in downtown Wichita, will be the official sponsor of a wide array of nonalcoholic drinks at many of the Party Out Front bars.

“In this giant party that’s so focused on booze . . . let’s have a different voice happening in there, and that’s really what the Phoenix is about,” Rowley said.

For those who are drinking alcohol, Rowley has applied for a temporary entertainment district license “that will allow people to move freely across our entire footprint with their drinks.”

Bud Light Party Zone

The Bud Light Party Zone is a party happening in front of the Hudson event venue at 508 S. Commerce St.

There will be food trucks, music and games.

Inside at the Hudson, there will be something called Hoops at the Hudson, which is a free public watch party.

There will be TVs along with a cash bar inside and another one outside.

Bubba’s 33 will be catering on Thursday and Saturday. Friday there will be food trucks.

Festivities will be 10 a.m. to midnight on Thursday, noon to midnight on Friday and 10 a.m. to midnight on Saturday.

At the Hudson’s second event space, at 427 S. St. Francis, the plan is to rent the venue for private parties. That could be adjusted and end up being open to the public depending on how many of the rental slots get filled.

ESPN Wichita Fan Zone

The ESPN Wichita Fan Zone party will be held in front of Union Station from March 20 to 22.

The idea is to “kind of create a family friendly watch party event,” said Andrew Stoothoff of ESPN Wichita, 92.3-FM.

“It’s going to be like . . . one big March Madness party,” he said. “We’re putting a big emphasis on supporting local businesses.”

ESPN is teaming with two nearby restaurants: the Depot and the Kitchen.

The three-day event will be 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

There will be food, drinks, giveaways, seating and TVs, including some big screens.

The station will be broadcasting live from the site as well.

The restaurants will offer service inside and outside, too.

The event is free, though guests need to purchase food and alcohol.

Wichita Brewing Party Garden

The Wichita Brewing Co. is throwing a party at the same place it did in 2018, which is the northwest corner of Waterman and Emporia. That’s immediately across from the arena.

“We’re not doing a whole lot of things differently,” said partner Jeremy Horn.

He said there will be multiple beer stations to “hopefully keep the lines short.”

This time, there will be food trucks as well, which Horn said is to add local flavor.

There also will be tents and TVs, though not a lot of seating.

“That wasn’t exactly high demand,” Horn said.

He said last time around, most people seemed to get drinks and then go attend games at the arena.

“We were kind of the go-to spot for pre-game and post-game, and that’s kind of what we’re trying to achieve now.”

The party garden, as it’s called, will open 11 a.m. most days starting on March 20 and will remain open until the games are over or people disperse, Horn said.

If guests are hanging out and having fun, he said, “We’ll stay open.”

Courtside at Brick & Mortar

The Brick & Mortar venue at 230 S. Topeka is just northwest of the arena and is following up its 2018 festivities with a more targeted approach this year.

Its Courtside at Brick & Mortar party will be open to the public in the glass tent behind the venue and in the parking lot to the south of the tent, too.

There will be vendors, food trucks, four large LED screens and a Kansas City DJ, Ashton Martin.

Inside the venue will be a VIP lounge. Tickets are $225 a day for an open bar from Crystal McDonald’s Xclusive Events and food from Itzcali Tapas & Tequila and the Candle Club.

There will be screens inside as well, including one large one.

While there still will be plenty of merriment, McDonald said, the festivities will be scaled back compared to 2018.

“This year we’re focusing on a . . . smaller-but-better experience instead of a larger footprint.”

Street closures and parking

For public safety and for the ability to throw parties, some of the streets and parking lots that normally are open for events at the arena will be closed.

In the front of the arena, Waterman between Mead and Emporia will be closed.

To the west of the arena, Emporia will be closed from Waterman north to William.

St. Francis, which runs just west of Naftzger Park and to the north of the arena, will be closed from Douglas south to William.

Parking on the north side of the arena will be reserved for arena and NCAA staff along with members of the media. There also will be accessible parking available there.

Though the parking lots immediately in front of the arena won’t be available because of street closures and parties, there will be a variety of ways to get to the area.

Uber and Lyft will have designated pick-up and drop-off spots at a Sedgwick County lot at Second and St. Francis.

There also will be parking at Wichita East High School, and buses will drop people off in front of Naftzger Park along Douglas.

There are a number of downtown lots and parking garages just past the perimeter of the arena. Those are on a first-come basis.

Drivers also can book parking in advance through the ParkMobile app, which is available now.

‘A great thing’

For some, all the parties and parking and activity surrounding the Tournament may sound like a headache, but for others, it’ll be one of the parties of the year.

There are hundreds of people working to make that happen.

“It’s going to be a great thing,” said Horn, the Wichita Brewing Co. partner.

He said out-of-town fans like to travel for games, and that’s going to bring significant economic benefits to Wichita.

Before the 2018 Tournament, Visit Wichita estimated there would a $10 million impact from direct spending on things such as hotel rooms, restaurants and area attractions, and that’s close to what it brought.

Some are estimating that more like 50,000 people are going to show up for the Tournament and parties this year, which would put the impact even higher.

“Wichita is going to benefit greatly,” Horn said.

Rowley, one of the people throwing the Party Out Front, has been steadily investing in downtown through buying and renovating properties around the arena and beyond. He said the success of the Tournament and the parties should last beyond just a few days and help the city with its master plan for downtown.

“It’s one chapter of our master plan, yes,” Rowley said. “Ultimately, we of course see this as a much larger opportunity to develop properties and buildings that enhance this area as a true entertainment district . . . to pair up with the arena.”

Think of places such as the Kansas City Power & Light District.

“This is a great opportunity to bring a lot of people down here and see what the potential could be as we continue to develop this area,” Rowley said.

For now, though, the immediate focus is on pulling it all off in two weeks.

“We’re gearing up,” Horn said. “It’s going to be a great week.”

This story was originally published March 1, 2025 at 4:04 AM.