Party in Overdrive

The Wichita River Festival was this past week. This year's theme was "Party in Overdrive". The only event I attended was Saturday night's grand finale. It's definitely the best thing about RiverFest. Hundreds of thousands of people converge on the banks of the Arkansas River downtown. The Wichita Symphony plays a pops concert culminating in the 1812 Overture with cannons shot off the Douglas Street bridge. And then there is the best fireworks display of the year.

The weather was perfect this year. A warm day that cooled down as the evening progressed, clear skies, slight breeze. It was gorgeous. I went with a group of friends that had some tarps staked out on the river bank east of Exploration Place in view of the Keeper of the Plains with a great view of the fireworks. We got there early enough to converge with the masses at the food court at Century II and run into several familiar faces.

Exploration Place

The Keeper of the Plains. There's a Rich Mullins song that has a line "where the sacred rivers meet beneath the Keeper of the Plains." This is what he's talking about. The Keeper is on the pedestal above the fires. The bridge is made to look like an airplane with a comtrail to note Wichita's #1 industry.

I finally got to try out the fireworks setting on my camera.