WICHITA: A LITTLE DIFFERENT, IN ALL THE RIGHT WAYS
Is Wichita smack dab in the center of America? Yup.
Well, slightly off, which is way more fun. It reflects not only our location but our city's personality. We take food, sightseeing, nightlife, all of it — and put our signature Wichita spin on it. We're proud of our heartland roots and our knack for keeping things interesting by not following a script. Our people make visitors feel right at home, while our city keeps them captivated and coming back for more surprises.
Wichita blends familiar comfort with just enough curveballs to keep you on your toes. We're slightly off center. And all the better for it.
Festivals That Don't Follow the Script
In Wichita, we don't just throw parties. We make them memorable.
Wichita has festivals where people race bathtubs, paddle cardboard boats and cheer on an egg toss competition like it's an Olympic event.
- Riverfest is perhaps the best example of our slightly off-center personality. Sure, you'll find live music, fireworks and great food. You'll also find the famous Cardboard Regatta, Cowboy Bathtub Races and a citywide celebration that somehow manages to feel both quirky and completely normal to locals.
- The fun continues year-round. Watch hundreds of drones create artwork in the night sky at Drone Light Festival.
- Travel back in time and cheer on professional athletes competing in the Scottish Highland Games at the Great Plains Renaissance Festival.
- Celebrate garlic-centric drinks and foods plus live local music at Orie's Garlic Fest.
- Debate who serves the best bowl at the Wagonmasters Downtown Chili Cookoff.
- Or spend a day sampling tacos from dozens of local vendors at Wichita Taco Fest.
We're not interested in doing things the usual way. That's kind of the point.
Food With a Wichita Twist
Some food combinations raise eyebrows. Around Wichita, they're local favorites.
- Take chili and cinnamon rolls. Around here, a warm cinnamon roll served alongside a bowl of chili isn't unusual, it's comfort food.
- Then there are bierocks, a hearty pastry filled with seasoned beef and cabbage brought to Kansas by Volga German immigrants and still beloved today.
- You'll also notice Wichita has a thing for honey. Botanica Wichita maintains pollinator-friendly gardens, local beekeepers are celebrated at community events and you'll find honey popping up in everything from cocktails to desserts. We may be in the middle of the prairie, but we're surprisingly passionate about our pollinators.
- And while you're here, follow the food trucks. They pop up throughout the city at breweries, festivals and neighborhood gatherings, serving everything from global flavors to local favorites.
Wichita's food scene is built on tradition, curiosity and just enough weirdness to keep things interesting.
Shopping That Refuses to Be Boring
Need a custom cowboy hat? A vintage record? A handmade gift from a local maker? A plant, a rare sneaker or a one-of-a-kind treasure you didn't know you needed?
You're in the right place.
- Hatman Jack's isn't just a hat store. It's one of the largest specialty hat shops in the country, where visitors can find everything from custom cowboy hats to statement pieces that deserve their own introduction.
- Spend an afternoon thrifting through Wichita's vintage shops, browsing farmers markets or discovering local makers at events like Shop & Grub and the ICT Big Gay Market.
- Explore quirky local favorites like Clifton Collective, Lucinda's, The Workroom and Grow Plant Bar, where shopping feels more like a treasure hunt than an errand.
Around here, the best souvenirs are the ones you never planned to buy.
Wildlife Where You Least Expect It
For a city in the middle of the country, Wichita has an unusual number of wild encounters.
- At Sedgwick County Zoo, one of the nation's top-ranked zoos, visitors can see thousands of animals from around the world, including a growing elephant herd that's earned national attention.
- At Tanganyika Wildlife Park, things get even more unexpected. You can feed giraffes, meet lemurs, interact with rhinos and even swim with otters. Yes, really.
- Looking for something quieter? Great Plains Nature Center offers miles of trails and opportunities to spot native Kansas wildlife.
- The Kansas Wildlife Exhibit gives visitors a chance to see native species right in the middle of Riverside Park, proving that Wichita has a habit of putting surprising things in unexpected places.
Things That You Didn't See Coming
The longer you stay in Wichita, the more often you'll find yourself saying, "Wait, that's here?"
- You'll discover a giant troll living beneath a bridge near the Keeper of the Plains.
- You'll find the Original Pizza Hut building preserved as a museum.
- You can explore world-class art, aviation history, dinosaurs, mummies and the American West — often within just a few miles of one another.
- At Exploration Place, kids can climb through giant sunflowers, explore life-sized aircraft and play across a six-acre adventure playscape inspired by Kansas landscapes.
- At Botanica Wichita, you'll find nationally recognized gardens and a restored 1949 Allan Herschell carousel.
- At Museum of World Treasures, a Tyrannosaurus rex and ancient artifacts somehow share the same building.
The attractions themselves are impressive. The surprises are what you'll remember.
One City, All Things Aviation
You probably don't expect one of the world's aviation capitals to be sitting in south-central Kansas.
Yet Wichita has helped shape aviation for more than a century, earning its title as the Air Capital of the World.
The slightly off-center part? Aviation isn't just our history. It's part of everyday life.
- You can climb into the control tower of Wichita's original airport at the Kansas Aviation Museum. Stand beneath historic aircraft.
- Visit B-29 Doc, one of only two airworthy B-29 Superfortresses left in the world.
- At Exploration Place, future pilots and engineers can dive into hands-on aviation exhibits, then head outside to the six-acre Adventure Playscape. There, kids can climb through giant aircraft-inspired structures, scale a towering sunflower and buffalo and explore a play experience designed around the landscapes, industries and imagination that make Kansas unique.
Most cities have museums about airplanes. Wichita helped build the airplanes.
Beware: Locals Are Friendly
Fair warning: people here might talk to you.
Need a dinner recommendation? Looking for the best patio in Wichita? Wondering where locals go for coffee, craft beer, cocktails or live music?
Just ask.
Wichitans are proud of their city and genuinely excited to share it. Don't be surprised if a simple question turns into a list of favorite restaurants, hidden gems and reasons why someone loves living here.
It's one of the most slightly off-center things about Wichita.
In a world where people are constantly looking down at their phones, our locals are still looking up, smiling and saying hello.
We're slightly off center, after all. And we wouldn't have it any other way.
