River Festival Drew 52,000 Visits Last Year. New Polling Shows How Salina Families Are Planning Now
As the Smoky Hill River Festival approaches, recent Salina311 community polling suggests that Salina-area respondents are viewing the long-running event through several overlapping questions: whether they plan to attend, whether the festival remains affordable for families, and how much interest remains in one of its related traditions, the Festival Medallion Quest.
The results show a mixed picture for one of Salina’s most recognizable annual events. The festival continues to carry cultural and economic importance, but the polling also points to cost concerns among many respondents at a time when household budgets remain a consideration for local families.
In a poll asking whether respondents plan to attend the Smoky Hill River Festival, 36% said yes and 64% said no. The result indicates that fewer than four in ten respondents currently plan to attend this year’s event.
That finding comes alongside separate polling on affordability. In that poll, 15.3% of respondents said the festival is affordable for most families. Another 31.3% said it is somewhat affordable, but that food and other costs can add up. The largest share, 42.3%, said the festival has become too expensive.
Taken together, 73.6% of respondents either said the festival has become too expensive or said it is only somewhat affordable because additional costs can add up. The results do not prove that cost is the reason most respondents are not attending, but they do show that affordability concerns exist at the same time a majority of respondents say they do not plan to go.
A third poll, focused on the Festival Medallion Quest, showed more limited participation in one of the festival’s related community traditions. 10.8% of respondents said they would participate in the hunt, while 9.4% said they would not go on their own but would join if invited by a friend. Combined, 20.2% expressed either direct or potential participation.
Most respondents said they would not take part in the Medallion Quest. 76.5% said they would not be hunting for the medallion, while 3.3% said they did not know what the Medallion Quest was.
The polling results come as the festival continues to represent a significant cultural and economic event for Salina. According to the 2025 Smoky Hill River Festival Financial Report, last year’s festival recorded 15,430 total wristbands sold, including 783 Festival Families First participants, and an adjusted gate count of 52,040. The same report listed $395,852.57 in reported food sales and $414,974.90 in reported art show sales.
Those figures show the festival’s role as more than a weekend entertainment event. It brings together local residents, artists, food vendors, volunteers and visitors, while also generating spending connected to food, art and attendance.
A broader 2025 cultural impact report for eight publicly supported Salina cultural organizations also points to the importance of visitors from outside the area. That report found 263,054 total visitors, including 117,987 from outside Saline County. It estimated $4,086,647 in local attendee spending beyond admission and $7,146,473 in out-of-county attendee spending beyond admission, for a combined total of $11,233,120.
The report does not provide a festival-specific breakdown showing how many Smoky Hill River Festival attendees came from outside Salina or outside Saline County. Still, the broader cultural impact numbers show that arts and cultural programming in Salina draws regional visitors and outside spending.
Viewed together, the polling and financial data present a more complete picture of the festival’s position. For the community, the event remains a major tradition with measurable economic activity. For many families, however, attendance may still come down to the practical cost of participating.
Admission may be only one part of that decision. Food, drinks, children’s activities, transportation, and other expenses can affect how families view the total cost of attending. That may help explain why affordability concerns remain high even as the festival continues to hold a prominent place in Salina’s civic calendar.
The results do not establish that affordability concerns are directly causing lower attendance interest. Other factors, including scheduling, weather, personal preference, family plans, and past experiences with the event, may also influence whether someone chooses to attend. Still, the polling suggests that cost is part of the broader public conversation surrounding this year’s festival.
The polls were conducted using one vote per email account, with duplicate votes removed. Standard statistical assumptions place the margin of error at approximately 3 percentage points.
Poll participation totals were as follows: 4,284 users responded to the affordability poll, 2,852 users responded to the Festival Medallion Quest poll, and 3,741 users responded to the festival attendance poll.