The 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship is in full-swing and thousands of fans are in Wichita enjoying the excitement. While live game play happens Thursday, March 15 and Saturday, March 17, there are no sessions happening at INTRUST Bank Arena on Friday, March 16. What’s a basketball fan to do in the city? The opportunities are endless. We’ve compiled a Wichita checklist of things you should do before you leave Wichita.
- Visit the Keeper of the Plains monument and search for “the troll” after a trip through the Mid-America All-Indian Center
- Tour the Wichita Art Museum and experience famous paintings by Henri-Emile-Benoit Matisse and Claude Monet
- Scale the walls at Bliss Bouldering & Climbing Complex
- Experience one of the largest T. rex in the country at the Museum of World Treasures
- Get up-close-and-personal with animals at Tanganyika Wildlife Park or experience the seventh-largest zoo in the country at Sedgwick County Zoo
- Stop by Sente: Games & Refreshments for coffee, snacks and board games
- Stop and smell the flowers at Botanica Wichita
- Test your luck in an escape room at Wichita Room Escape or Entrap Wichita Escape Room
- Stop by the ICT Pop-Up Urban Park (Douglas Ave. and Main Street) and grab lunch at one of Wichita’s favorite food trucks
- Sample the local flavor at one of Wichita’s 10 breweries
- Take a mural tour and see the urban art scattered around downtown Wichita
- Order a specialty donut from The Donut Whole
- Take a stroll through the historic brick-lined streets of Old Town
- Purchase some Wichita flag swag at The Workroom, Lucinda’s or Bungalow 26
- Try an ice-cold sarsaparilla at Old Cowtown Museum as you explore Wichita in the 1870s
- Learn why Wichita is known as “The Air Capital of the World” at Exploration Place’s Design Build Fly exhibit
- Continue your basketball celebration at one of the many fan events happening in downtown Wichita
- Have a dinner theatre experience at Mosley Street Melodrama or Roxy’s Downtown
Wichita has many other attractions and hotspots perfect for basketball fans. For information on where to find local sports bars to watch other NCAA games, parking and transportation or shopping opportunities, click here.
For a list of events happening during your stay in Wichita, head to our calendar of events page.