Kechi Kite Festival and open house

The city of Kechi, KS has a day filled with fun planned for Saturday, September 21.

It’s a Kite Festival, fall festival, outdoor antique market, arts fair, and small business open house day all rolled into one.

Karg Art Glass

Kite-Flying Events in the Wichita Area

Fall Festivals near Wichita

Kechi Kite Festival

For the kite festival, which is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. September 21, enjoy free kite-flying activities on the south end of town in the area west of Oliver, north of Highway 254.

Get a new kite from Wings of the Wind or bring your own. You’ll see the kite-mobile: they’ll have kites flying and kites for sale and some kites that you can even try out.

During the festival, watch pro stunt-flying kite demonstrations from expert flyers! Also, look for a candy drop (from a flying kite) for the kids!

Kechi Vintage Market

In addition to all the high-flying fun of the kite festival, they’ll have an outdoor vintage market at Junk in the Trunk Emporium on E. 61st Street.

35 antique and vintage vendors will sell their wares in this neat little vintage, artsy town. When I was in the little Kechi restaurant recently, I saw a cup that proudly proclaimed Kechi was the “Antique Capital of Kansas.”

Kechi Open House

Not only is Kechi, Kansas known for its antiques, it’s also known for its art. Throughout the day, some Kechi merchants along Artisan Lane will be holding open houses and some are doing demonstrations.

The Vintage Rhinestone, including pieces from about 20 artists and artisans
Geno’s Bar B-Q (see my comments about it below!)
Kechi Playhouse (built in 1920), tentative performance in evening
Kechi Quilt Impressions
Honey Bee Hut KS (I have one of her “Sunflower” lotion bars, made with beeswax), inside The Vintage Rhinestone
Cindy’s Quilts-n-More
Richard’s Wood Shop
Karg Art Glass
Turkey Creek Weaving Studio

If you haven’t yet been to Karg Art Glass, make that a priority on your list, and then check out the other shops in the 61st and Oliver area.

Rollin Karg at the Wichita Art Museum Art and Book Fair, describing how they make the steel sculptures that provide a base for some of the art glass.

Festival Schedule

Although the kite-flying fun is in the middle of the day, there will be something to do pretty much most of the day in Kechi on September 21. Here’s an overview of events:

8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Outdoor antique market at Junk in the Trunk Emporium, 4535 E. 61st, Kechi, Kansas, KS 67067
9 a.m to Noon Glass blowing demonstrations at Karg Art Glass
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Let’s Go Fly a Kite with Wings of the Wind
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fall open house at Vintage Rhinestone
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Weaving demonstrations at Turkey Creek Weaving Studio

The Kechi Kite Festival will also feature a food vendor selling hotdogs, bierocks and drinks. But you could also go to a Kechi restaurant. I can heartily recommend the Geno’s Bar B-Q two-meat dinner with brisket and ribs. We just had dinner there for the first time in August, and it’s fantastic food at even fantastic-er prices. (Yum.)