Wichita Festivals Inc. announced Thursday that Clay Bastian will serve as Admiral Windwagon Smith XLVII in 2021. Bastian was selected to be the Admiral in 2020, but Riverfest was reduced to some online only events due to COVID-19.
A Wichita native, Bastian was born in 1957 at Wesley Hospital, the youngest of three siblings. He graduated from Wichita Collegiate and studied business administration at the University of Kansas. After graduation in 1979 he returned to Wichita to join his family’s business, now called Fidelity Bank, and was the company’s first marketing manager.
Bastian has a lot of history of involvement with Riverfest. As a sponsor, he was instrumental in the organization of the Riverbank Jazz concerts presented by Fidelity Bank from 1991 to 1995. He joined the Wichita Festivals, Inc. Board of Directors in 2008, and served as board chair in 2011. Bastian became a member of the Operations Committee in 2012 and continues to serve on many Riverfest committees; including Riverfest Classic Car Show, Signage, Sundown Parade, Marketplace, and STEAM City. “This has been the most meaningful and rewarding community work I have done with a great family of dedicated volunteers,” Bastian said.
At the end of 2018, Bastian retired from Fidelity where he worked in marketing, real estate, tax management, capital markets financing, and regulatory liaisons for 38 years.