Wichita Riverfest 2020 won’t happen but organizers are planning a smaller downtown party
For the first time in its 49-year history, the Wichita Riverfest will not go on as scheduled this year.
Because of ongoing coronavirus concerns, the festival that was planned for May 29-June 6 has been canceled, said Ty Tabing, the new president and CEO of Wichita Festivals Inc., at a virtual news conference on Tuesday.
“There is no question that this is the right thing to do, but there are a lot of tough emotions attached, for our dedicated volunteers, our staff and of course, for Riverfest fans, some of whom won’t be spending the first week of summer at Riverfest for the first time in decades,” Tabing said at the news conference, broadcast over Facebook Live.
As a replacement, organizers are planning a four-day fall-themed downtown party that will include some of the festival’s most popular events. It’s scheduled for Nov. 5-8 on and near St. Francis Street. Among the festival favorites that will be incorporated into the November event are the River Run and TouchATruck. The Wichita Eagle’s Medallion Hunt also will happen.
The festival’s annual Autumn & Art event at Bradley Fair will still go on on as scheduled Sept. 18-20.
Tabing said that the festival made the decision after talking with city and county officials. He noted that the Riverfest would join a long list of other festivals across the country, including Coachella, the Tribeca Film Festival and SXSW, that have been canceled or rescheduled in recent weeks because of coronavirus concerns.
The substitute event in November can’t last nine days, Tabing said, because fall is such a busy time for festivals in Wichita and there’s not a nine-day window where the festival would not conflict with other events, some of which the festival’s longtime sponsors are a part of.
The fall party also will pay tribute to the 150th anniversary of the founding of Wichita and Sedgwick County. The festival is looking at the list of musical acts that were already booked to see if any are available for the fall dates, said Teri Mott, the festival’s director of marketing and communication.
Festival organizers are planning to put on an interactive Virtual Riverfest 2020, which will include nods to favorite classic events. It will all happen during the time the festival was originally scheduled for, May 29-June 6, on the festival’s social media channels, and more details will be available at WichitaRiverFest.com on May 1.
The festival added a Frequently Asked Questions section on its website, Mott said, and it should address many questions people might have about the cancellation and the fall festival. Organizers will continue to add to it as more questions arise, she said.
Until today, the festival kept a post at the top of its Facebook page saying that the event had not yet been canceled. It took a while to make such a big decision, Tabing said on Tuesday.
“When you’re the biggest event in the state with a large economic impact on the local community, it takes longer to assess and coordinate with local public health officials,” Tabing said on Tuesday. “We’ve been very thoughtful about this decision and are doing the right thing as a matter of public health and safety, and there is no higher priority.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 12:05 PM.
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