Wichita River Festival

I used to go to this event every single year and had a blast, but now it has become overcommercialized, expensive as hell and seems to be more and more targeted to those staying in the hotels along the river than it is to those wandering the streets.

Back in the day my favorite event was the oldies concert on the hill. We took coolers, kicked back on a blanket and watched bands play all night. Now the music has been moved to a spot that makes it hard to see, you have to pay extra for some of the concerts and no more coolers, which means overpriced watered down pop or warm beer.

The fireworks used to be awesome too. You could pick a spot along the river (our spot was always in front of the church on the corner), kick back and enjoy the show. Now they’ve moved it so they can charge people to sit on the roofs of the hotels. It’s hard to find a really good spot without either trees blocking the view or being in the range of getting hit by the dead fireworks. I got hit the last two years I went. Once by one of the firework engines that left a bruise for 2 weeks and the next year by a rain of fire coming down on all of us in the area.

Too bad. I used to love it so but now I won’t go.

It’s Wichita’s main event, but really I’ve never seen the point. It’s way too crowded (naturally – I guess I can’t complain about that), it’s usually – being Kansas – insanely hot, and the food is overpriced and not all that good (not to mention being a real pain to get a hold of – you have to wait in line thirty minutes to redeem lots of money for a couple tickets, which immediately get re-spent onto the food). The events aren’t that great, either. Mostly you just can’t see anything for all the people. Sometimes we get some pretty big names for the main concert events, but most people have to stand so far away that they can’t see. The fireworks are nice, though, if you can get a good spot.

Happens every May. Starts with a parade and hot air balloons (if I remember correctly), and ends with bathtub races on the river, a symphony concert, and fireworks over the river. My favorite time or year!