Topeka ? The Sunflower Games sports festival will stay in Topeka at least through 2013.

The Sunflower State Games organization announced Wednesday that it had accepted a bid from Visit Topeka Inc., to hold the games in Topeka for the next three years.

Visit Topeka will pay $20,000 a year for the festival, which attracts thousands of athletes who compete in more than 40 sports. The games are conducted over three weekends each July.

The Topeka Capital Journal reports that Visit Topeka’s board of directors awarded the games only $5,000 in tax money this year.

Olivia Simmons, Visit Topeka’s president and CEO, said the organization agreed to pay the minimum bid of $20,000 after residents made it clear that they wanted the games to stay in Topeka.