Be sure to bring curiosity and a bit of an appetite to Kauffman Museum’s annual Kansas Day celebration, which focuses on food.
“Flavor of Kansas” is the theme for Celebrate Kansas Day! activities on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 31, with food sales starting at 11 a.m. (dependent on weather) and the museum and grounds opening at noon, through 4 p.m.
Authentic Kansas smells will be available free, and tastes for purchase, from vendors of food and hot drinks, all in the museum parking lot at the corner of North Main and 27th Streets in North Newton.
Attendees should park in the Thresher Stadium parking lot or the Luyken Fine Arts Center parking lot to leave the museum lot open for food vendors, the Health Ministries mobile clinic, and handicapped parking.
Admission to Kauffman Museum and all activities are free on Kansas Day.
Special programs begin at 1 p.m. in the museum auditorium, with “Heart of Kansas: Music and Love,” a performance by local folk and bluegrass band Queen Jack Jericho.
At 2 p.m., Traci Brimhall, Kansas poet laureate, presents “Eat Your Words: A Poetry Cookbook.”
Finally, at 3 p.m., Amy Bousman from the Kansas Department of Parks and Wildlife will discuss “Ethics, Safety and Sustainability of Foraged Foods.”
Also inside the museum, there will be special activities to help attendees learn about and celebrate Kansas foods and foodways.
These include sunflower cookie decorating, an Indigenous agriculture activity, a “Kansas Foods” magnet craft and watermelon mosaics, along with a scavenger hunt, a poetry writing table, a reading corner, a Kansas Day trivia wheel, trifold book drawing, rock painting and clay miniatures.
There will be a Cookbook Corner for examining gently used cookbooks that can be taken home.
Outside the museum, you can see how Kansans and their domestic animals lived a century ago in the historic farmhouse and barn.
Also outside are a barnyard animal petting zoo, horse-drawn wagon rides, a Native American teepee set up for visits, blacksmithing with Bill Moffett, and a display of vintage washing machines.
Other favorites from past Kansas Days are Buffalo Chip Tic-Tac-Toe, Prairie Dog Cornhole, old-fashioned schoolyard games, a branding station, rope-making, corn-shelling, and the always-popular popcorn popped in a kettle over an open fire.
Please note that some activities will depend on good weather.
Raffle tickets for local food treats from Back Alley Pizza, Crust & Crumb bakery, Prairy Market & Deli and Salted Creamery ice cream, all of Newton and North Newton, will be for sale, with the drawing at 4 p.m.
KMUW-FM Wichita Public Radio is the major media sponsor for Celebrate Kansas Day!. Kauffman Museum’s other 2026 partners are Bluestem Communities, Choose Newton, Citizens State Bank-Goessel, the City of North Newton, Conrade Insurance, Everence Financial, G&C Farms, INTRUST Bank, McNeill/Wilson Family Farm, Sunnyslope Farms and Union State Bank.
For more information about Kauffman Museum, including regular hours and how to become a museum member, visit its website, kauffmanmuseum.org, or Facebook page, or call 316-283-1612.
