With the Smoky Hill River Festival just around the corner, here are some need-to-knows for festival-goers from Salina Arts & Humanities.
●The festival’s five entrance gates open to the public at 4 p.m. on Thursday and at 10 a.m. Friday through Sunday. No general festival attendees will be permitted before these times. There is no early setup in the festival stage areas by vendors, volunteers, or the public. Volunteers reporting for early shifts should come to the Mulberry Street or Tony’s Pizza Events Center bridges, wearing their weekend-admission wristband for security to see and check.
●Daily and weekend admission wristbands will be available for purchase at the Mulberry, Fourth Street, or Tony’s Pizza Events Center entrance bridges or the north Oakdale gates, but not at the Kenwood Bridge entrance. Festival-goers may enter over Kenwood Bridge only if they already have purchased and are wearing their wristband. Advance-price four-day wristbands are on sale at all regional wristband retailer locations through today.
READ: Read the directions before putting on river festival wristband
●Coolers with snacks and beverages are permitted on-grounds. No glass containers of any kind are allowed.
●Per City Ordinance No. 12-11052, no smoking, electronic cigarettes or any tobacco products are allowed anywhere in Oakdale Park during the river festival.
●Masks will be required for each person who enters festival headquarters, who gets a henna tattoo, and who enters the First Treasures tent.
●In the rest of the park, masking and social distancing is strongly encouraged.
●The festival will post clear occupancy or gathering guidelines at select locations across the park as necessary. Patrons will be expected to follow all posted guidelines.
●Shade umbrellas are allowed behind designated and marked sight lines only. No canopy tents of any kind are allowed anywhere in the park by the general public.
●No pets on grounds. Authorized, designated service animals only are permitted.
●No bicycles, scooters, or skateboards are allowed within the park, except for police and emergency services personnel.
●Guest services available at the river festival include the EMS First Aid Center, a fully staffed mobile-device Nex-Tech Wireless charging station at the edge of the pond near Stage II, the Baby Station tent, and Lost & Found.
●CityGo shuttle buses from various points in the Tony’s Pizza Events Center parking lots to festival grounds are wheelchair accessible and will run from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday only. A special route from 2 to 4 p.m. on those two days will make brief stops (weather dependent), so riders can see the artists at work on the murals at The Yard sports facility on Fourth Street and on the grain elevators of the Salina Kanvas Project on North Santa Fe.
See the festival program on-site or click here for guest-service locations and details. Helpful final reminders about what to bring or not bring also can be found on the site.