Happy birthday, Kansas! The Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum is hosting a FREE event for Kansas Day 2026.
Over the past several years, it has become a tradition at the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum to celebrate Kansas statehood with live performances of song and verse, harkening back to Kansas’s cowboy years. Kansas joined the Union in 1861 as other states left to form the Confederacy, leading to the Civil War. Sedgwick County and the City of Wichita were established 9 years later, in 1870, during the height of the cowboy era.
Kansas joined the Union in 1861. Sedgwick County and the City of Wichita were established 9 years later, in 1870, at the height of the cowboy era.
This year’s Kansas Day Celebration will be held on February 1, 2026, from 2-3 p.m. Doors open at 1 p.m., and it is important to get there early. The first 60 visitors will gather in the museum’s DeVore Auditorium for musical groups and cameo performances by other local performers. (Seating is first-come, first-served; no reservations are available.)
If you can’t get there early enough to be in the auditorium, the event will be streamed live on the museum’s Facebook page.
The annual event is made possible by museum volunteers, Friends of the Historical Museum.
Admission is FREE and open to the public of all ages.
Kansas became a state on January 29, 1861, and every year around this time we like to celebrate with free or inexpensive Kansas Day events in and around Wichita.
This Kansas Day celebration is free. What fun! How will you celebrate Kansas Day?
Date: Febuary 1, 2026
Time: 2-3 p.m.
Location: Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum, 204 S. Main, Wichita, KS 67202
Cost: Free!
For more information: http://wichitahistory.org
The Historical Museum, founded in 1939 and today occupying Wichita’s original City Hall, is an accredited Museum open to the public six days a week with four floors of exhibits featuring local history. You’ll find the building directly across from the old Central Library in downtown Wichita. You can’t miss it – just look for the clock tower!
You can park in the metered spaces on the side streets near the museum or in the metered lot next to Century II.
Pro Tip: The Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum got even more affordable with FREE Sunday Admission. Here is an article about FREE Sundays at our Historical Museum.
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2 Responses
Carolyn,
The historical museum is near the New Library or the Old Library building?
Beverly
Near the Old Library (on Main). Sorry I forgot to update that paragraph about where the building is located!