by James Jordan, Sumner Newscow — Organizers of the Kansas Wheat Festival were pleased with this year’s event, held in early July in Wellington, and they are already making plans for next year.

Chamber of Commerce Director Annarose White said the festival buttons sold out on Friday and they were using wristbands after that. They had ordered 3,000, which was more than previous years, and still sold out.

The buttons give admission to most of the festival. The price was a dollar higher this year, $3 in June, and $5 starting the first of July.

White gave a debriefing to festival committee members at the Chamber office Thursday.

She suggested they work out a theme for next year, and perhaps even have themes set for a few years in advance. With the Chisholm Trail’s 150th anniversary in 2017, the theme will likely be close to that, she said.

While they were pleased with the outcome, there were minor issues that will be addressed, and they are hoping to continue to grow the festival.

They had a good turnout with the Logan Mize concert, which was an experiment in bringing in a bigger name act. They may well do that in the future, and they are considering different types of music.

They also did advertising in Wichita this year, and White said that seemed to have a positive effect with drawing even more people to the festival.

“We had strong results on digital billboards. We tried some Facebook paid campaigns, but didn’t get a lot there,” she told the group.

There was a new layout to the festival this year, with the stage set up in front of Memorial Auditorium. White and committee members said feedback on that was good.

The picnic in the park before the big weekend was moved a little away from the train at Sellars Park and that turned out well, so they may keep it at the new location next year.

They are also considering adding some music to that picnic in the park event, or some kind of entertainment that would appeal to adults.

In the main stage area, around Memorial Auditorium, there were three nights of music this year, and they may add one for next year.

The Ag Show was also added at the high school this year, and that also received good reviews, White said.

She added, she wants to continue to add agricultural aspects to the festival, especially since it is the official wheat festival for the state.

They were also happy with the parade which went well. A concern about children getting to close to the floats as candy is being distributed remains a concern.

There were also several ideas that were explored. Having some kind of wheat beer event was one possibility. Another was developing more of a theme, and having the button design contest earlier.

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