Event
Description
The Fourth Annual Concert of Symphony in the Flint Hills will be held on Saturday, June 13, 2009 near Florence, Kansas on a private ranch deep in the prairie. The Kansas City Symphony will once again join us to celebrate this treasured landscape.
Upon arrival, volunteers will greet you, some on horseback, and guide you to the concert site. You are invited to arrive at the parking area as early as 12 noon. The ticket gate opens at 1 p.m.
The concert site is out in the middle of prairie at the end of a walking trail, through wild flowers and native grasses, about one mile from parking. Transportation to the concert site on flatbed trailers with rustic seating will be provided for those who prefer it. However, we do encourage you to hike the wild flower trail to the concert site. This year the walk is expected to be at least a mile from the ticket booth with some changes of elevation. In other words wear good walking shoes, wear a sunhat, plan to take your time and enjoy the scenery.
Whether walking or riding on a trailer, plan to arrive early. Rides out to the site begin at 1:00 p.m. from the ticket booth. Last rides will leave from the wait and ride tent near the parking lot at 5:30 p.m. There may be a waiting line for rides so you are encouraged not to wait for the last ride.
Educational activities begin onsite at 2 p.m. An afternoon full of opportunities to learn about and experience grassland culture and heritage is being planned. All these things are included in the price of your ticket so come early, avoid waiting in line, and enjoy.
Presentations will be scheduled every half hour in 4 different education tents beginning at 2 p.m.
Some topics are:
- Prairie plants and flowers
- Geology of the Flint Hills
- History of cowboys and historic ranching in the Flint Hills
- Birds of the prairie
- Modern day ranching in the Flint Hills
- Pre settlement history
- The story of Doyle Creek Land and Cattle Company
Activities:
- Bird hikes accompanied by Kansas Audubon member guides
- Petting zoo with symphonic instruments provided by the Kansas City Symphony Auxiliary
- Authentic horse-drawn covered wagons for rides out into the prairie
- Guided wildflower and native grasses walks led by Kansas Native Plant Society members
- Star Gazing guided by astronomy groups with telescopes
- Dancing to the Blackbury Band after the concert playing old time western music
Beginning at 2 p.m. award-winning barbecue dinners with vegetarian option will be available for purchase at the concert site from Flint Hills vendors. Iced tea, lemonade and bottled water will also be available. Wine and beer will be offered for sale as well. We ask that you NOT bring any alcoholic beverages with you to the site. (It is against Kansas Alcohol Beverage Control rules and we could all get into trouble.) Before we understood the rules, we were only concerned about the possibility of broken glass, now we know better. There will be plenty of free unchilled water. You may choose to bring your own picnic, but hard-sided coolers are not allowed past the ticket gate . . . they take up too much room on the trailers and it is really too far to carry them on a June afternoon. Tailgate picnics are fine, of course.
Don’t forget a hat, sunscreen and bug spray! Umbrellas are great for shade but have to be closed when the concert starts. Bring a flashlight, the port-a-potties will be dark inside at night.
You may bring lawn chairs (no chaise lounge chairs, please) or blankets to sit on. However we will have folding chairs available for rent for a $2 fee for those who don’t want to carry their own chairs around.
The concert will start promptly at 6:30 p.m. The performance will last 90 minutes with a 20-minute intermission. No videotaping, photographing or cell phones during the performance, please. You may smoke in the privacy of your own vehicle. Additionally there will be a designated smoking area up at the concert site. Ask at the information booth for the exact location. Please do not smoke elsewhere.
Sunset in the Flint Hills can be extraordinarily beautiful. The sun won’t go down on concert day, June 13, until 8:55 p.m. Summer solstice, the longest day of the year, is about a week away. Twilight should be long and lingering.
The walking trail, the parking area, the concert site and the food and beverage tents will be well illuminated. THE PARKING PROBLEM: Incoming parking is usually not a problem, especially if you come early enough (well before 4:00 p.m.). Leaving the parking lot will continue to be a challenge, particularly this year, because the concert site is 6 miles from Highway 50 and has long winding stretches narrow gravel road. There is only one way in and out of the concert site and approximately 2,700 vehicles will all have to exit the same route, back to Highway 50. So, you are encouraged to relax after the concert and enjoy continuing entertainment at the concert site while the parking lot clears. Because, there are those who will try to leave early no matter what, and the road out will be clogged, and traffic will barely creep along for several hours. No sense waiting for hours in your car when you can enjoy old time acoustic music with fiddles, guitars, bass harmonicas, and a good expanded wood dance floor, and look at the stars through telescopes. Food and beverages are served until 11:00 p.m.
Spending a day in the Flint Hills in June can be absolutely glorious. However, nature is our partner for this event. All concertgoers will need to be cognizant of the weather forecasts for the area on Saturday, June 13, 2009. Should the concert have to be postponed until Sunday, June 14th, please see Rain Plan under Tickets.