WFI UPDATE

A WICHITA FESTIVALS INC. UPDATE by Shane Stuhlsatz

WICHITA FESTIVALS UPDATE

Hey Neighbor! It’s great to see you, and while I hate to cut to the chase so abruptly, the fact is we need your help.

It should come as no surprise that 2020 has been an unprecedentedly challenging year for Wichita Festivals, Inc. You are our festival family, and I wanted to catch you up on what’s been happening in our world.

One year ago, WFI staff was planning for Riverfest 2020, excited about the concert lineup that was coming together beautifully and working with sponsors and partners to create a vision for the 49th festival. The year began with a joyful reveal of the 2020 poster and button artwork at the end of January, but by March, due to the growing COVID-19 pandemic, staff members were forced to work remotely. In early April we joined members of the festival and event industry all over the world when we announced that Riverfest 2020 would go virtual, presented mostly on our social media channels. The online event took place May 29 through June 6. It was well received and a wonderful way to stay in touch with festival fans. Not being able to host an in-person festival, however translated into a 90% reduction in revenue! Many people don’t know this but Wichita Festivals is a not-forprofit organization, not a government entity, so the revenue loss was a devastating blow.

The winning Riverfest 2020 poster by Meghan and Juanta Wolfe was just revealed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The charming design, featuring DJ Nobrac and his trusty disco ball, had barely seen daylight, so with a few small updates it will be the Riverfest 2021 poster as well. After hoping for the best for our community and holding on to the hope of hosting an in-person event with Autumn & Art at Bradley Fair, pandemic numbers and the regulations that go with them made it necessary for us to hold that outdoor festival virtually as well. On September 18, our staff and so many of our incredible volunteers hand-delivered Patron Party boxes to the homes of our supporters. Although the Patron Party in a box was a big hit, and we were delighted to welcome back favorite artists from throughout the years through our virtual booth platform, revenue opportunities from a virtual event remain slim.

WFI staff began work on an event named Wonderfall, hoping to celebrate the 150th birthdays of Wichita and Sedgwick County by gathering downtown on the first weekend of November. Again, despite our high hopes and hard work, the raging pandemic foiled our plans. In late September we made the tough decision to reduce WFI staff by 30%. Remaining employees are working an 80% schedule. On the bright side, we successfully hosted the 44th River Run as a virtual event on Nov. 7, and toasted our town’s 150th with an outdoor art installation of Wichita luminaries, “Depth of Field: A

Meghan and Juanta Wolfe’s button designs will be recycled for the 2021 festival. If you purchased a 2020 Riverfest button, you can use it to get into Riverfest 2021! Wichita Photo Album,” on display along St. Francis, Nov. 6-16.

During these chaotic months, staff members have been thoroughly assessing the potential to safely present live events by meeting with other representatives of the industry and attending webinars hosted by International Festival & Entertainment Association and other experts in the field several times a month. The WFI team is forming a task force to help us make informed decisions with the support and assistance of a variety of authorities, including government health officials. As you know, our business is hosting large-scale festivals, giant celebrations that bring together families and friends, neighbors and even newbies who are exploring Wichita for the first time. Keeping attendees safe is a priority for us, and the associated costs of sanitation stations, additional security, masks and gloves for volunteers and so much more are making the already high costs of producing major events leap even higher. Our team is an optimistic and determined group, and planning for 2021 is moving ahead. We see the potential for Riverfest 2021, Autumn & Art at Bradley Fair and the Wichita Festivals Golf Tournament and are building pivots and contingencies into our plans, so we can adapt to whatever the new year brings.

In order to move forward, however, and maintain the vision of community pride and celebration we have established over the past 49 years, we need your help. Our team feels a heartfelt obligation to give the same gift to future generations that WFI has given to the past two: big community events that bring us together as neighbors. Events that help families create memories together. While we can’t gather in person right now, we don’t want to lose what the talented and creative teams that went before us built.

So we are here to ask you, neighbor: What are your joyous, music- and laughter-filled festival memories worth? Is Riverfest a part of your family? When you were growing up did you dream of sharing Riverfest with your kids and grandkids? If the answer is yes, we urgently ask you to support WFI and Riverfest now.

What can you do? A gift of any amount to the Hey Neighbor! campaign will help. Just visit HeyNeighborICT.com to give. Our events are for every citizen, regardless of age, background or interests. Whatever you can give according to your ability would be a blessing to our organization, and would help ensure the future of both Riverfest and Autumn & Art. We’ve also got some cool merchandise you’ll want to check out. (I know Santa would appreciate some help filling those stockings.) visit WichitaFestivalsShop.com

We are working hard to keep the doors open and to keep building family memories. Many thanks to those of you who have already given to the campaign! With you by our side we will give our all to keep Riverfest and the other community traditions we’ve established vital and growing, like the city we are proud to call home. Thank you for your consideration, until we can meet again.

Happy Holidays to You and Yours!

Shane Stuhlsatz Chair, Board of Directors Wichita Festivals, Inc.