9 days of great weather, music and festival fun brought the Wichita community together to celebrate after two years apart.
July 21, 2022 – WICHITA, Kan. – In spite of high water and rapid currents, the 50th Riverfest finished on a high note, with pre-pandemic level attendance and engagement, event officials announced today.
Throughout the nine-day celebration, a total of 330,000 estimated attendees enjoyed more than 70 events, with the largest crowds gathering for beloved traditions and brand-new events on opening and closing weekends.
“A rushing river can’t keep Wichitans from having a great time and supporting their community celebration for its 50th Anniversary,” said Nancy Duling, president and CEO of Wichita Festivals, Inc., the non-profit organization that produces Riverfest. “With river events paused for some of the festival due to rapid currents, folks turned their attention to our stellar concert line-up and diverse events. We’re so grateful to the generous sponsors and hard-working volunteers who power this event to success decade after decade, no matter what.”
Here are Riverfest 2022 results to date:
- 330,000 total estimated attendees:
- Among the largest-drawing events within the festival were the Capitol Federal Fireworks Finale, the Safelite® AutoGlass Sundown parade, The Drone Show presented by Exploration Place and the Textron Aviation Opening Night Fireworks.
- The festival’s largest stage show was the first Saturday night concert starring Willie Nelson and Family on the Wichita Acura Dealers Stage.
- Other huge draws included headliners Grupo Pesado at new full-day Fiesta del río; The Family Stone featuring local artist Rudy Love Jr.; WAR and Gov’t Mule.
- 16,809 buttons were sold on site during the nine days of the event, with 48,195 more sold off-site, online and at local QuikTrip stores.
- Food and beverage sales increased by 41% over 2019 with the Quantum Credit Union Food Court back to pre-pandemic size.
- Merchandise sales were up 35% over 2019, with 50th Anniversary apparel being a highlight.
- The festival enjoyed a solid safety and security record, with only 7 EMS transports and 2 arrests.
- 6,712 volunteers assisted with the festival.
- The Wichita Riverfest 2022 mobile app, powered by Evergy, saw a record number of users with nearly 410,000 views.
Riverfest 2022 attendance and participation results were measured and cross-checked using multiple sources including attendance clickers at each of the four entry gates; aerial photographs of events; physical measurements of the festival footprint, the Safelite® AutoGlass Sundown Parade route, the Fidelity Bank River Run route, WEEE Entertainment Carnival grounds, Kids’ Corner at A. Price Woodard Park and the Arkansas riverbanks in addition to digital attendance data.
Special thanks to all our Riverfest Sponsors for 2022.
Official Sponsors and Partners Include: Decker Electric, House of Schwan, KSN News, Metro Courier, SiteBox Storage, Spot’s Party Bus and Visit Wichita.
Major Sponsors $50,000+ Include: Audacy, Capitol Federal, City of Wichita, Exploration Place and Fidelity Bank.
Major Sponsors $40,000+ Include: iHeart Radio, KAKE, KSN, KWCH and Summit Media.
About Wichita Festivals, Inc.: Wichita Festivals, Inc. is a non-profit corporation with the purpose of creating diverse community celebrations within the Wichita community. The primary events produced by Wichita Festivals, Inc. are Riverfest (June 3-11, 2022), Wichita Festivals Golf Tournament in Memory of Bob Struble (September 9, 2022) and Autumn & Art at Bradley Fair (September 16-18, 2022). For more information about Wichita Festivals, Inc. or its events, contact Jenny Venn at (316) 267-2817, Ext. 22 or jenny@wichitafestivals.com.
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