Final Friday for Wichita Kansas

Final Friday for Wichita Kansas sounds like the title of a disaster  or apocalyptic movie. It's no such thing here in Wichita and several  other cities across the country like Cincinnati, Dallas and Nelsonville, Ohio to name a few.  It is in fact a celebration of arts and culture. An art gallery crawl where crowds of people stroll around downtown to the many different art and photography galleries.       

 Some of the galleries include the Mead Street Gallery, Gallery XII, Bruce Ward Photos, Mosaic gallery, and many others. The City Arts building in the Warren Theater Plaza has 3 floors of artists exhibiting there finest work.

Often there are fun activities for the public to participate in at City arts. Last Friday they had their Apple macs out and were letting people play with software imaging. The fun was making pictures of yourself in different and unusal ways. You could then email them to yourself and have them to keep. City Arts also offers  lots of different classes throughout the year.

Final Friday isn't just all about art. The many bars and restaurants downtown have live music, good food and other activities going on. There are coffee shops, like the espresso house that have live shows. This week there was a talented band playing Irish music at the back of the shop.

There's the Qline, a trolley, for riding around in if you don't like to walk and  a horse drawn carriage is also available for those out for a little romance.

In the plaza a drum circle meets every Final Friday and people are welcome to sit in and beat a little rhythm for awhilewith the drum masters. Across from the drum circle the fountains in the plaza provide a nice distraction for the kids who can be heard from blocks away "whoopin' it up" and laughing. A nice break for the parents to sit and enjoy.

Some of the popular shops are open late for those like to browse and buy.

There's ice cream to be had, activities for the kids and adults alike and lots of people. Chances are you'll run into some of your friends and on occasion old friends not seen in a long time.

Final Fridays in Wichita are well worth the trip down town once a month to get out and shake it up a little.