These 9 events draw thousands to Topeka, helping the city nab its first-ever travel conference
Concerts, conventions, drag races and demolition derbies regularly draw large numbers of visitors to Topeka, said Mike Bell.
A list of some of the most popular of those gatherings was shared with The Capital-Journal by Bell, who is vice president of sports sales and marketing for Visit Topeka Inc., the city's official destination marketing organization.
Bell added that Topeka will break new ground in terms of encouraging tourism next month by doing something it's never done before — hosting a travel conference.
The 2022 national African American Travel Conference will be April 12 to 14 at Hotel Topeka at City Center, 1717 S.W. Topeka Blvd., according to the website for that organization.
Bell identified the following gatherings as bringing some of the largest numbers of visitors to Topeka.
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Kicker Country Stampede
More than 10,000 people annually come here to attend the Kicker Country Stampede, a three-day outdoor music and camping festival at Heartland Motorsports Park, 7530 S.W. Topeka Blvd., Bell said. Kid Rock, Jake Owen, and Big and Rich are scheduled to be among performers at this year's event, which will be July 14-16.
Menards NHRA Nationals
More than 10,000 people annually come here to attend the Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor, a three-day drag racing event taking place at Heartland Motorsports Park, Bell said. This year's event will be Aug. 12-14.
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Kansas Kids Wrestling
About 7,000 people come here to attend the annual Kansas Kids Wrestling competition held in Landon Arena at Stormont Vail Events Center by USA Wrestling Kansas, Bell said. This year's event took place March 11-13.
Capital City Carnage
More than 3,000 people come here to attend the annual Capital City Carnage Demolition Derby held in Landon Arena at Stormont Vail Events Center, Bell said. This year's event took place March 4 and 5, according to its Facebook site.
Blizzard Bash
More than 3,000 people come here to attend the annual Blizzard Bash demolition derby held in Landon Arena at Stormont Vail Events Center, Bell said. This year's event will take place Nov. 10-13, according to its Facebook site.
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Conferences and conventions
Bell identified these four groups that draw some of the largest numbers of visitors while having conferences or conventions here on a regular or semi-regular basis.
• Kansas Water Environment Association, which brings about 800 people and will have its annual conference from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1 at Stormont Vail Events Center and Hotel Topeka at City Center, according to its website.
• Kansas Knights of Columbus, which brings about 600 people and will have its annual convention from April 29 to May 2 at Hotel Topeka at City Center, according to its website.
• Kansas Fairs & Festivals Association, which brings about 400 people and met Jan. 7-9 at Ramada Topeka Downtown Hotel and Convention Center, 420 S.E. 6th Ave. according to its website.
• The Grand Lodge of Kansas, which brings about 400 people and had its annual communication March 18 and 19 at Hotel Topeka at City Center.
In addition, Bell said the Central States SHINE religious conference is expected to bring 2,500 visitors when it's first held here in 2024.
Topeka also hosts various dog shows, which generally bring in less people than other events — perhaps 200 a show — but remain in progress for longer periods of time, often going 10 days, Bell said.
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'Shockwaves and aftereffects'
About 200 people are expected to attend next month's African American Travel Conference in Topeka, a total that wouldn't put that event among this community's top gatherings in terms of attracting visitors.
But the true value of that event for Topeka will come in terms of its "shockwaves and aftereffects," Bell said.
The AATC is an association of 2,500 travel planners serving the African-American community, its website says.
Bell stressed that about 75 of those expected to attend next month's conference work specifically as travel planners, and may be in a position to bring considerable tourism revenue to Topeka.
He expects most of the others who attend will be representatives of other cities coming to pitch their communities to the dozens of travel planners present.
Visit Topeka sends representatives to similar travel shows in other cities to pitch this community to travel planners, Bell said.
This time, however, the travel planners will come here.
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Conference includes dining, shopping
Topeka had initially been chosen as site of the AATC for 2020, but that convention was canceled because of COVID-19.
Representatives from Visit Topeka then went to last year's AATC conference in Louisville, Ky., were they worked to spread the word about what Topeka has to offer for tourists, particularly in terms of Black history, Bell said.
Next month's conference in Topeka will include networking events, tours of local attractions, opportunities for dining and shopping and a chance for participants to visit area casinos, he said.
Bell encouraged Topekans to share the friendly, welcoming nature of this community with conference participants.
He said Visit Topeka benefits from healthy attendance at large gatherings here because such gatherings generate revenue for the transient guest tax the city imposes. Most revenue from that tax then goes to help finance Visit Topeka while enabling it to invest more money in working to attract visitors here.
Topeka's city government imposes the transient guest tax, also called a “bed tax,” upon hotels and other businesses that provide temporary lodging.
Tim Hrenchir can be reached at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: 9 events, conventions draw thousands of people to Topeka each year
