When BreAnna Monk was hired as the CEO of Wichita Festivals, Inc. in January, it was good news for her and Wichita’s African-American community..

She had been appointed to head up the largest community event in Kansas. Wichita’s Black community was proud. They were also hopeful.

They hoped the festival’s first African-American female CEO would bring fresh energy to a festival long celebrated — but not always embraced — by Wichita’s Black community.

There’s been a long running complaint among members of Wichita’s Black community that the festival hasn’t always wanted “much” participation from all facets of the community. That’s especially true for young Black youth, who’ve complained for years about being “othered” by police, especially when there were large numbers of them in attendance.

From the rest of the Black community, the complaint has been the lack of events that cater to the community’s interest and culture.

As Wichita Festivals’ president and CEO, Monk’s job is to oversee the strategic planning and execution of WFI’s events, manage organizational operations, lead staff and volunteer teams, and drive revenue growth.

Onboarded just just four months before festival kick off, planning for this year’s festival was well underway when she took over. Instead of focusing heavily on events, she turned her attention to raising much-needed sponsorship dollars. So this year’s festival differs very little from previous years’ festivals and doesn’t reflect much of Monk’s vision for the festival’s future.

As a 10-year Riverfest volunteer and an active member of the community, she’s heard the complaints, and as an experienced and creative event specialist, she’s open to a Riverfest refresh.

She’s been visiting with a cross-section of Wichita community members to gain their perception of what’s right and what needs to be fixed. She wants to hear what more people have to say.

To be heard, she suggests emailing her or posting your comments on any of the festival’s social pages.

She also has a few ideas of her own, including a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, an “America’s Got Talent”-type competition and possibly bringing back the festival’s Block Party just to name a few.

Monk arrived at her position with years of experience, including 10 years as a Riverfest volunteer. She started by volunteering with the River Run and, along the way, served in numerous volunteer positions before joining the festival’s Volunteer Committee.

An avid volunteer, Monk donates more than 3,500 hours each year to volunteer work including the Sedgwick County Extension, No Veterans Die Alone, Chisholm Life Skills Center and her sorority Delta Sigma Theta. She was also appointed to serve on the State of Kansas Volunteer Commission by Gov. Laura Kelly.

Monk was born in Chicago and moved to Wichita as a preteen when her parents relocated here.

After graduating from East High, she attended Cowley County Community College on a full academic scholarship and finished her Bachelor’s Degree at Friends University. She’s gone on to earn two master’s degrees at Friends University: one in health care leadership and the other in business administration.

She worked 11 years in the health care industry, then with the City of Derby as director of its senior center and senior transportation services. She lived in New Jersey for two years, where she was hired to help a company grow and obtain government contracts.

She returned to Wichita when her father began having some health issues. That’s when she saw the job opening for WFI CEO. Now, here she is – in charge of a nine-day festival that will draw more than 250,000 attendees to downtown Wichita over nine days.

The 53-year-old Wichita Riverfest evolved from the 1972 celebration of Wichita’s centennial called the Wichitennial. A stated goal of that original event was to bring people together across the community and in 2025, that’s still a stated goal of the festival.

It’s a goal Monk believes in and is committed to.

“We have to make sure we appeal to everyone,” says Monk “It’s not just a one particular kind of festival.”

She notes the festival’s efforts in the last decade or more to include a more diverse and broader selection of talent and activities, particularly with the headline concerts, which are among the festival’s biggest draws.

“”I do believe we should continue to put diverse acts into our lineup and it’s something I will continue,” says Monk but she notes she and the festival team must make wise and fiscally responsible decisions when it comes to selecting the annual concert lineup.

A major determinant in what acts are booked is the act’s overall appeal, which converts to how many people will this act bring to the festival? Will the crowd spend money on food, alcohol and merchandise? Finally, can we get a sponsor to underwrite this act?

“We have a concert almost every night and that concert has to support itself,” says Monk.

Covering that cost begins with a sponsorship. Every concert has sponsorship that covers the costs of the musical act. Every concert, that is, except Gospelfest.

“It wasn’t because we didn’t ask,” says Monk about Gospelfest’s lack of sponsorship.

Gospelfest is the only concert that doesn’t pay for itself. In addition, Gospelfest draws the smallest crowd and has the resulting lowest food, alcohol and merchandise sales.

“There’s no reason for it,” says Monk. “We have enough people in our community that we could pack that place.”

In addition to showing up, Monk says she also needs Gospelfest attendees to spend money while they’re there. In an economically-driven festival model, the community could get more if we support more.

As an example, she says Fiesta Del Rio, started a few years ago as just a concert like Gospelfest.

“Then it started getting heavily attended. It went from a concert, to a few more events, to a half-day. Now they have a day,” says Monk.

Another major complaint, not limited to Wichita’s Black community, is the rising cost of Riverfest buttons.

Even with the price of everything going up, there’s a lot of grumbling each year when the price of Riverfest buttons are announced.

Beyond sponsorship costs, the revenue from button sales help cover the festival’s many indirect expenses, like setup, breakdown, electricity, water, trash pickup and disposal, security and the year-round staffing to plan the event.

This year, early bird buttons were $15. If you haven’t gotten your button by now, the cost is $20.

The parade on May 30.

The children’s entrepreneur market on June 1.

The fishing derby on June 7.

Touch-a-truck event on June 5.

The food court from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

In addition to showing up and spending money, Monk’s ask for the community is to volunteer. Volunteers are needed year-round and especially during the festival, when it takes more than 400 volunteers to help everything run smoothly.

Monk, the avid volunteer, feels there’s a lot to be gained from volunteering in the community. It may not always lead to a job, like it did for her, but you make connections and friends, while doing something for others and the community.
To volunteer, visit WichitaRiverfest.com/volunteers for more info.