Elsewhere Festival is a two-day event that features a variety of local, regional and national acts as well as conference sessions with performers, journalists and other industry members.
The festival offers more than music, however.
Attendees can also take in a broad range of other activities that tie the festival to the community. On Friday, The Phoenix — a national, sober-active community — will host a family-friendly block party with mocktails, art and food.
On Saturday, the nonprofit restaurant Café Momentum will host a Pop-Up Dinner, which provides justice-involved Wichita youth the opportunity to prep, cook and serve a three-course meal.
Marquis Bradley is community engagement leader for the event. He said that the event reflects the diversity of the city and seeks to remind people attending of that cultural richness.
"This is about creating a space that will elevate the various communities within the city," Bradley said. "This is how Wichita was built. We have a lot of different people from a lot of different backgrounds and cultures. Let's embrace everyone."
He said the festival was designed to let people explore different genres in different locations downtown.
"You won't be in just one place, you can move from place to place," he said. "The whole thing will take you on an adventure in downtown Wichita."
Bradley, who owns the gym Omnicut Motivational Fitness, added that his role with the festival is one that he personally finds rewarding.
"I'm about connections, about relationships," he said, "So, when the opportunity came up, I thought, 'I can do this. I can really connect people. I know this is one my gifts.'"
Ideally, he said, the festival will become a starting point for new relationships that can last beyond when the festival closes Saturday night.
"We need to continue to celebrate each other, encourage each other and uplift each other," he said. "This is about creating new outlets for people to understand that Wichita is coming together and saying that we're stronger together than we are apart."
