Event Cancellations and Closures in Wichita, KS

Sadly – but perhaps wisely – numerous public events in Wichita will be canceled or postponed because of recent health concerns. 

The City of Wichita and Sedgwick County both made announcements on March 13 that large public gatherings with expected attendance of 250 or more are postponed or canceled until further notice. On March 16, Sedgwick County dropped that number to 50, and the City of Wichita announced more closures of public facilities. (You can see them below.)

For that reason, please double-check every event you plan to attend with the event organizer. 

Within our posts and event listings, we always include a link to the official website or Facebook page for the event. This is one reason why. 

Please do click on those links (and recheck) to see if events are still taking place. Even if there’s no mention of an event being canceled, you still might want to double-check by email or phone, just to save yourself the trouble of going there and then finding that nothing’s happening. 

Stay healthy, my friends!

Event Cancellations in Wichita

At this point, it would be futile to try to list all event cancellations here. If it’s a smaller gathering, then the event might proceed as scheduled. 

This happened really fast! One day we were getting notices of events that were still planned to go on, then on Friday afternoon while I was at the grocery store (along with all of Wichita, it seemed), many major events got canceled. 

The City of Wichita announced these closures on Monday afternoon. Effective March 17 through March 27, unless otherwise noted, the following facilities will be closed:

• All Wichita Public Library locations
• Botanica
• CityArts
• Century II
• Old Cowtown Museum
• Mid-America All-Indian Museum
• Wichita Art Museum
• Wichita Park and Recreation Centers (includes spring break camps and recreation programming)
• Ralph Wulz Riverside Tennis Center
• WATER Center
• Great Plains Nature Center
• Atwater, Colvin, and Evergreen Neighborhood Resource Centers
• The Q-Line will not operate. Other transit bus routes will continue to operate on a normal schedule. 
• Wichita Municipal Court is suspended from March 18 until April 6.  Any cases currently set for these dates will be rescheduled.  Domestic violence bond-out cases will proceed as scheduled.
• Metropolitan Area Building and Construction Department’s Neighborhood Inspection division will not accept walk-in customers or appointments
•  Public events and programming such as District Advisory Board meetings and City advisory boards meetings.

For now, Wichita parks and public golf courses will remain open, although tee times will be staggered to ensure proper distances between players. 

You can check on the latest measures being taken by the City of Wichita here.

Other closures:

• Exploration Place will be closed until at least March 31
• AMC Theaters will remain open, but limit capacity in its theaters to fewer than 250 people. (This will have to change. Stay tuned for updates.) UPDATE: All AMC theatres are temporarily closed in accordance with local and federal guidelines. They will re-open when those guidelines allow.
• Starlite Drive-In was going to stay open the last time we checked on 3/13. 
• Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day will not happen on April 4
• Carousel Skate Center has canceled Monday’s Ultimate Pass Special and $2 Tuesday Special. They will close the Play Zone Saturday, March 14 and Sunday, March 15.
• Sente Games & Refreshments will be closed until further notice
• The Youth Lawn Mowing Clinic has been canceled
• The We All Eat event at Sedgwick County Extension has been canceled
• Bonding Through Board Games Mega Event on March 28 has been suspended
• ICT Cinema free Movie in the Park has been canceled for March 28
• All branches of the YMCA in Wichita are closed to members and participants other than Spring Break Camps and Early Learning Centers. The YMCA Spring Youth Sports practices and games at all Y locations are postponed until further notice. 
• Kansas Aviation Museum will be closed March 15-20, or “unless otherwise noted.”
• The March 21 & 22 Wichita Flea Market at Kansas Star Arena has been canceled.
• Chick-fil-A locations in Wichita are temporarily closing their dining rooms. They will still offer drive-through service. Catering orders, both pick-up and delivery, and DoorDash orders will still be available.
• Milkfloat will be available by takeout or curbside pickup only (no dining in).
• The Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum will be closed effective Tuesday, March 17 through Tuesday, March 31. Updates will be available through the Museum’s website or by calling the Museum Office at (316) 265-9314.
• Field Station: Dinosaurs is closed, with plans to reopen for the summer on May 23. 
• Sedgwick County Extension Center is temporarily closed to the public. 
• Regal announces closure of all theatre locations starting Tuesday, March 17, 2020, as a precaution amid the current circumstances. All theatres will remain closed until further notice.
• Museum of World Treasures will be closed beginning March 19 until further notice. 

We will try to list some resources that might make your spring break a little more fun. I know we have articles like that around here somewhere… I just need to find them. 🙂 If you have kids, you might like this super-awesome recipe for homemade play dough that feels and smells just like the brand you can buy in the store!

Stay safe. Stay healthy! Stay happy and positive and kind, as you always are. 

Note: We were only updating events we have previously written about. However, the Wichita Eagle has a page of cancellations that covers additional categories (including universities/schools). The Eagle has lifted the paywall for this article, so you can see what else around town may have been impacted.

Of course, the best place to find out if a specific event has been canceled is the business’ own website or social media account(s).