Shake off the winter chill and warm up to the sights and sounds of a colorful Kansas spring. Tulips explode into a kaleidoscope of blooms at botanical gardens across the state, while cities and towns kick off the season with cultural events you won’t want to miss. Here’s a sampler of it all.

  1. In Bloom
  2. Downtown Celebrations

In Bloom

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Splashy tulips usher in the season at , joined soon by irises and peonies that perfume the grounds. Roses and daylilies complete the springtime bouquet at Manhattan’s historic campus garden and its 1930s limestone dairy barn and caretaker’s cottage—now a visitors center.

See tulips in a different light at Topeka’s Ward-Meade Botanical Garden. Come nightfall from mid-to-late April, 25,000 tulips pair with light displays to stage an illuminating show during Tulips at Twilight. Follow pathways lined with glowing trees, larger-than-life flowers, and other twinkling flourishes.


Family feeds fish at Ward Meade Botanical Garden in TopekaWard-Meade Botanical Garden - Topeka
Credit: Starboard and Port

 

On a larger scale, Botanica, The Wichita Gardens, spreads Tulip Festival fun throughout its 20 acres. Some 70,000 tulips take center stage the first three Saturdays in April, but sideshows draw a crowd, too, with live music and food trucks. A Botanica bonus: Ride the Khicha Family Carousel after exploring the 30 themed gardens.


Family strolls through Botanica in WichitaBotanica Wichita
Credit: C2 Photography
 

Get inspired to start your own plot of prairie with wildflowers and grasses for sale at Dyck Arboretum of the Plains’ semiannual FloraKansas: Native Plant Days. During the April event in Hesston, stock up on purple coneflower, bee balm, butterfly milkweed, bluestem, blue grama, and other Kansas thrivers. You can also explore this 29-acre native garden all season to spot favorite species.


Welcome stone sign at Dyck Arboretum in HesstonDyck Arboretum - Hesston
Credit: Andrea Etzel
 

When it comes to growing veggies and flowers, let Stilwell’s Coffey Grounds Farm do it for you. Purchase fresh-picked onions and greens in spring, and savor the farm’s bounty at monthly high teas and farm-to-table dinners.

Downtown Celebrations

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Wichita

 (April–May)

On a Sunday in April and May (and one in September), the city shuts down busy avenues to encourage community building and physical activity—running, biking, walking, skating, and yard games—in a safe environment.
 

Great Bend

 (May 2nd)

Flashy floats, costumes, and regional royalty parade down Main Street to the courthouse square festival grounds. The party heats up with Latino music, folk dancers, tacos, tamales, street corn, and other flavors.
 

Lawrence

 (May 22nd–24th)

This college town gets full-on funky when a lineup of street performers from around the globe overtake downtown on Memorial Day weekend. Be entertained by the likes of Hilby the Skinny German Juggle Boy and The Last Carnival, a local troupe specializing in acrobatics, dance, and pyrotechnics.

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