What's on around Wichita

The Orpheum had been dark since June of last year. At the end of the summer the doors opened again on a restoration of the inside of the theatre, and November is its first full month back in rhythm. A comedian takes the stage on the 13th, a Moulin Rouge! screening fills the 19th, and an Irish Christmas show lands the night before Thanksgiving. Out at the Sedgwick County Zoo, the lanterns stay lit until nine.

November around Wichita turns on three dates: the general election on Tuesday the 3rd, which carries the Wichita school district's two bond questions, the Veterans Day commemoration on Wednesday the 11th, and the Turkey Trot downtown on Saturday the 21st.

I'm Jeff Moran, NMLS #483943, a mortgage broker licensed in Kansas through C2 Financial Corporation, and I have been in the mortgage business since 1996. I work out of Bluffton, South Carolina, and I have not been to any of these myself. Every date below comes from the organizer, the venue, the city or the county that runs it, as each one has published it for 2026. Anything I could only find on a previous year's listing is left out of the dated list, and the ones I had to leave out are named near the bottom. I checked all of it on October 27, 2026. If you are looking at homes anywhere from Park City down to Derby and out to Andover this fall, the Wichita area buyer's guide covers the four counties here and the cities inside them.

Election day is Tuesday, November 3, and the Wichita school bond is on the ballot

Polls open at seven in the morning and close at seven in the evening. The Sedgwick County Election Office's own calendar has early in-person voting at the Election Office running weekdays through October 30 and again on Monday, November 2 until noon. The Election Office has moved to 3639 North Comotara Street, so the Historic Courthouse is no longer a voting location. The county's tentative canvass, which is the day it certifies the results, is Thursday, November 12.

If you are shopping for a home inside the Wichita school district, the two bond questions on that ballot are the ones to read first. The county's own notice of the bond election puts Question 1 at not more than $407,100,000, repaid over twenty years, with an average annual levy of 5.500 mills. Question 2 is not more than $207,900,000, at an average annual levy of 2.180 mills, and it only passes if Question 1 does. The district's own bond site estimates that Question 2 would add about $50 a year, or $4.16 a month, for the owner of a $200,000 home.

A mill levy change lands in your escrow account the year after it takes effect, which is why I'd want you to know about it before you write an offer. Kansas property tax due dates after a fall closing walks through whose bill is whose when a closing lands this time of year. The revenue-neutral rate notice explains the letter Kansas sends when a taxing unit plans to collect more than it did the year before.

The first weekend is the busiest one of the month

Sunday the 1st closes out two things that started in October. Century II's listing for Tosca has the Wichita Grand Opera's Sunday matinee at three in the Concert Hall, and Kansas Comic Con finishes its run in the Expo Hall the same day.

Friday the 6th is the gallery night. Downtown Wichita runs the First Friday Gallery Crawl on the first Friday of every month now, and it posts the participating galleries about a week ahead. The Sunflower Merry Mart takes the Century II Exhibition Hall from ten to four on both the 6th and the 7th, and Century II's calendar carries it. Up in Park City, Live Nation's listing for Heartland Credit Union Arena has MercyMe on the 6th at seven, with Jeremy Camp, Tim Timmons and Sam Wesley.

The Wichita Symphony's own page for the Youth Orchestras fall concerts puts the Repertory Orchestra and Youth Symphony in the Concert Hall on Friday the 6th at seven. The chamber ensembles, the Introductory String Orchestra and the Youth Chamber Players play there on Sunday the 8th at three. One ticket covers both. Between those two, Saturday the 7th is stacked. Simply the Best, a Tina Turner tribute with Tamika Lawrence and Shaleah Adkisson, takes the same Concert Hall at 7:30 that night. The Cultural Association of India holds its Diwali celebration in Mary Jane Teall Hall from five to ten that evening, and the Sunflower Slam fills the Convention Hall from ten in the morning.

At the Orpheum, the theatre's own events calendar has the Be Like Blippi Tour at two on Saturday afternoon.

Veterans Day lands on a Wednesday this year

Wichita Veterans Memorial Park's own listing has its commemoration at eleven in the morning on Wednesday, November 11, at the Flag Pavilion on Veterans Parkway. A middle school color guard presents the Colors before the National Anthem, and the program runs about an hour.

McConnell Air Force Base is four miles southeast of central Wichita, and the 22nd Air Refueling Wing flies its tankers out of there. How VA loans work in Kansas covers entitlement and what a Kansas closing does and does not ask of a veteran. That evening, Alice Cooper brings the Alice's Attic Tour to Heartland Credit Union Arena in Park City at seven.

Century II has a show almost every weekend

Broadway in Wichita brings Mrs. Doubtfire to the Concert Hall on the 10th, 11th and 12th at 7:30, and Century II's own page for the show carries the dates. Magic of Motown plays the Mary Jane Teall Theater on Friday the 13th, doors at 6:30 and the show at 7:30.

Later in the month, the comedian Derrick Stroup brings the Running Hot Tour to the Concert Hall on November 21 at seven, and the Wichita Flea Market takes the Expo Hall on the 21st and the 22nd. Thanksgiving weekend closes with two more in the building. Kansas' Largest Gun and Knife Show runs the Expo Hall on the 28th and the 29th, and the Metropolitan Ballet dances The Nutcracker in the Concert Hall those same two days with live music from the Salt City Orchestra.

The Orpheum's first full season since the restoration

The Orpheum's own page for Tom Segura has the comedian on Friday the 13th at seven, doors at six, with a sixteen and over age limit. Its 2026 Anniversary Film Series screens Moulin Rouge! on Thursday the 19th at seven. Yolanda Del Rio plays the theatre on Saturday the 21st at eight. A Celtic Christmas, by A Taste of Ireland, closes the month on Wednesday the 25th at 7:30, doors at 6:30.

Lanterns at the zoo and the Saturday market downtown

The Sedgwick County Zoo's own Wild Lights page runs the Asian lantern display Wednesdays through Sundays from six to nine, after the zoo clears for the day at five. The zoo's frequently asked questions page gives the season as October 16 through December 22, and other listings, including Visit Wichita's, end it on December 20, so I would check the zoo's own calendar for the night you want. Wild Lights needs its own ticket even if you were there in the daytime, and the zoo holds it rain or shine unless lightning shuts it down.

Visit Wichita's listing for the Old Town Farm and Art Market has this year's season running April 4 through December 19, on Saturdays at the Farm and Art Market Plaza on East 1st Street North. The market's own site closes it the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so that puts markets on the 7th, the 14th and the 21st this month, and then three more before the season closes. November and December hours are ten to one, an hour later than the summer start.

The Kansas Grown Farmers Market out at the Sedgwick County Extension office on West 21st Street North runs its outdoor Saturday season April through October. Its own event calendar then moves it indoors for a handful of winter Saturdays, the first on the 21st from eight to noon, with two more in December.

Shockers at Koch Arena, Thunder at INTRUST

Wichita State's own 2026-27 schedule opens the home season against CSUN on Wednesday the 4th at 6:30. Friends University follows on Wednesday the 11th at 6:30, and Austin Peay on Saturday the 14th at six. New Mexico comes in on Saturday the 21st at one, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday the 23rd at 6:30, and Southeast Missouri State on Monday the 30th at 6:30 for the Teddy Bear Toss. The Shockers' non-conference release counts ten home games on the non-conference schedule alone.

The Thunder play eight home games downtown this month. The team's own schedule release has Tulsa on Saturday the 7th at 6:05 for Native American Heritage Night, then Idaho on Wednesday the 11th at 10:30 in the morning for the annual Educational Day Game. Idaho stays for the 13th at 7:05 and the 14th at 6:05. Allen comes in on the 18th at 7:05, Tulsa again on the 21st at 6:05, Kansas City on Sunday the 22nd at 3:05 and Tulsa again on the 25th at 6:05. The 28th is a road game at Kansas City. The promotional schedule makes the 25th Thunder Chickens night.

Derby lights its tree on the 19th

The City of Derby's annual events page has its 21st annual Christmas tree lighting celebration at Madison Avenue Central Park on Thursday the 19th from six to eight. Derby's winter market follows at the same park on Saturday, December 5 from eleven to four.

Andover's Hometown Christmas, with its tree lighting, is on Thursday, December 10 this year rather than in November, according to the City of Andover's own page. If you are weighing an address in Derby against one in Andover or one inside the Wichita city limits, the city line changes the mill levy, the building code and who picks up your trash. The Wichita area buyer's guide goes through that city by city, and Kansas special assessments and your monthly payment covers the specials that ride along with newer subdivisions out there.

Thanksgiving week downtown

Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26. The Turkey Trot comes first. The Wichita Sports Commission's race page puts this year's race on Saturday the 21st at Century II, with the ten mile off at 7:45, the two mile at 8:10 and the Tiny Trot for children under six at ten. Packet pickup is Friday the 20th at Century II from eleven to six, and again from 6:30 on race morning. The same commission lists a Say Grace 5K on Thanksgiving morning itself, with a Double Gobble medal for the first five hundred people who register for and run both.

Across the river, Exploration Place's calendar has Curious George: Let's Get Curious up through January 3, with Scooby-Doo: Mansion Mayhem running alongside it. Its Craft Cinema night on Tuesday the 17th screens Sister Act, and guests bring a lap-sized craft along. The museum is open daily from ten to five and closes on Thanksgiving Day.

Events I could not confirm for this year

Six things that turn up on November lists around Wichita are missing from the dated list above, because the organizer had not published this year's date when I checked on October 27.

Illuminations at Botanica is the big one. Visit Wichita's page for it still reads as to be announced for this season, and the garden's own group sales material covers last season, which ran from late November into early January. It has opened in the second half of November in recent years, and botanica.org is where the date will appear.

The Bradley Fair tree lighting on Rock Road has no 2026 date up either. It has landed in late November in past years. The Wichita Veterans Day parade is the same story. One veterans resource site lists November 7 for it, but I could not find that date on an organizer's own page, so I am not going to put a time or a route on it.

A WWE television taping appears on a national broadcast schedule for November 23 at INTRUST Bank Arena, and I could not confirm it on the arena's own calendar.

Two more I had to set aside. The Sedgwick County Zoo's Flocktail page still shows last season's November date, which fell on a Thursday, and the zoo has not posted this year's. The Cuffs and Axes charity boxing classic turns up on November lists for Park City, but it is not on Heartland Credit Union Arena's own calendar.

New around Wichita this year

The Orpheum reopened at the end of the summer, after more than a year closed for a restoration of its interior. The theatre's own site carries the schedule that came out of it, and November is the first month on it that reads like a normal season.

Bombardier opened a North American Learning Center at its Wichita site in the middle of October. Bombardier's own release puts the center and an expanded wheel and tire shop inside about $50 million of investment in Kansas, and it is the company's first in-house skills center for newly hired technicians and mechanics from across the country. Governor Laura Kelly's remarks in that release count 1,500 Kansans working at the Wichita operations. A job that starts or moves changes which documents go on your loan file. For a salaried position, please provide your offer letter and your pay stubs covering the last 30 days, please. If you will be working for yourself once you arrive, please provide your complete income tax returns, all pages and schedules, please. We will need the past two years for you personally and for any business that you may have an interest in. Getting pre-approved in Kansas covers what gets reviewed before anybody writes a letter.

East Kellogg is under construction from K-96 out past 159th Street, and it will be for years. KDOT's own project page puts the work at about $288 million, with construction that started on March 23 of this year and phases running well beyond it. KDOT's Wichita metro updates page has both directions of Kellogg between K-96 and 143rd Street down to reduced lanes for pavement reconstruction, with a width restriction through the work zone. The on-ramp from 127th Street East to eastbound K-96 has been closed since May for the project, and KDOT routes that traffic to 13th Street instead. If you are comparing a home on the east side with one somewhere else, I'd drive both at the hour you would normally be on the road.

Common questions

What is happening around Wichita at Thanksgiving 2026?

Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26. The Wichita Turkey Trot runs the Saturday before, on the 21st, from Century II downtown, and the Wichita Sports Commission adds a Say Grace 5K on Thanksgiving morning. Exploration Place closes for the holiday itself. On the Saturday and Sunday after, the Metropolitan Ballet dances The Nutcracker at Century II and Kansas' Largest Gun and Knife Show fills the Expo Hall. Wild Lights at the Sedgwick County Zoo runs Wednesday through Sunday nights straight through the weekend.

When is the Wichita Turkey Trot in 2026?

Saturday, November 21, at Century II. The Wichita Sports Commission has the ten mile starting at 7:45 in the morning, the two mile at 8:10 and the Tiny Trot for children under six at ten. Packet pickup is the afternoon before, Friday the 20th, from eleven to six at Century II, and then from 6:30 on race morning.

What is on the Sedgwick County ballot on November 3, 2026?

Along with the state and federal races, the Wichita school district has two general obligation bond questions. The county's notice of that bond election puts Question 1 at up to $407,100,000 with an average annual levy of 5.500 mills, and Question 2 at up to $207,900,000 with an average annual levy of 2.180 mills. Question 2 passes only if Question 1 does. In money, the district's own bond site estimates that Question 2 would add about $50 a year, or $4.16 a month, for the owner of a $200,000 home. Polls are open from seven in the morning to seven in the evening.

Are all of these events in Wichita itself?

Several are not. The Derby tree lighting is in Sedgwick County but inside its own city, and Heartland Credit Union Arena is up in Park City. The Wichita area runs across four counties, which are Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey and Sumner, and the county an address is in decides which appraiser values the home and which county levy goes on the tax bill. The city then decides the rest of the levy and the building code. A mailing address does not tell you the county or whether a home is inside the city limits, so both are worth looking up on the address itself.

I am moving to the Wichita area this winter. Where should I start?

You'll want to start with the address rather than the city on the listing, because the mill levy, the specials and the flood map all follow the parcel. On a newer subdivision, I'd have you ask early whether it carries special assessments, because those ride on the tax bill and land in your escrow account. Your insurance quote here will likely carry a separate percentage deductible for wind and hail, so it is worth asking for that number up front rather than at the end. The Kansas page covers the statewide rules, including the mortgage registration fee cap and what the register of deeds charges per page. Then please give me a call and tell me which cities you are looking in, and I can tell you what your numbers look like in each of them.