story by GLENDA WINDERS
Nothing says more about a community than the festivals and events it chooses to celebrate, and nothing is more exciting than happening into a town when such a celebration is underway. Cities throughout the state have special occasions going on throughout the year, and we’ve scoped out some favorites so that you can make plans to be there and not miss a minute of the fun.
Spring arrives in Indiana with Huntingburg’s Daffodil Stroll, April 4-5, a time when merchants extend their hours and present new merchandise, décor, and gift items while outside live music plays and activities for children keep them busy while you browse. Family Roots Nursery hosts the Rooted Art Market on the 5th, featuring a variety of artisan vendors and food trucks in addition to a greenhouse space overflowing with spring flowers and gardening items.
The Garden Gate Jazz, Wine, and Craft Beer Festival, April 26, is set in Market Street Park and features live jazz performances, wine tastings, craft beers and food trucks. That day will also see historic Fourth Street lined with classic cars, hot rods, trucks, and motorcycles for the annual Huntingburg Kiwanis Car Show.
Beginning in May, “Jasper in Bloom” will coincide with the Downtown Chowdown, held on the first Thursday of each month until October at the Jasper Riverwalk. In addition to food trucks, attendees can enjoy live music and family-friendly activities. The Chalk Walk Festival at the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center follows on May 17. Register to participate in this full day of art, creativity, and imagination by transforming the sidewalks into vibrant murals.
The next day is Old Jasper Day and Strawberry Festival in the Old Jasper District. Enjoy a scenic excursion on the Spirit of Jasper Train through the countryside and horse-drawn carriage rides through downtown, where there will be live music and good food.
Also on May 17 is Ferdinand’s brand new event, Community in Bloom, featuring food trucks, drink trucks, and a Facet’s Greenhouse Plant Truck. Be sure to participate in the “Grow your Garden” event by stopping at participating stores offering seed packets. Free kids’ activities and a special spring menu will be available at the historic Wollenman Home in addition to in-store promotions and events throughout town.
Two dogwood festivals also celebrate the season in the southern part of the state where the trees flourish. The Orleans Dogwood Festival will be held April 19-26, and during this 55th year of their celebration they will be honoring veterans and the end of that war in 1975. Parades, carnival rides, arts and crafts, food, and live entertainment along with a car show and gospel night will round out the good times.
The Perry County Dogwood Festival, which runs April 26-27, is a free event where you can view the trees for which the county is famous while engaging with food vendors, flea markets, craft booths, quilt shows, a petting zoo, live music, and sassafras tea.
The festival season kicks off in Carmel on May 4 with the Cherry Blossom Festival at the newly redesigned Japanese Garden. Attendees can enjoy performances by a Japanese violinist, calligraphy exhibits, a traditional tea ceremony, and other celebrations of Japanese culture in honoring the city’s 30-year relationship with its sister city, Kawachinagano.
Looking ahead to October 18, Carmel will take part in Diwali, the Festival of Lights and India’s largest holiday. Activities will include dances, musical performances, Indian cuisine, colorful décor, traditional arts and crafts, and a light display.
Summertime means it’s time for fairs, and in conjunction with Indiana Association of Fairs and Festivals, Hendricks County will hold its 4-H Fair on July 13-19. When the fair is over, the annual Demolition Derby will begin.
“What makes the Hendricks County 4-H Fair so special and unlike most 4-H fairs is the quality of the facility and the people and activities,” said Josh Duke, Visit Hendricks County’s senior communications manager. “The activities and events change annually, but you can expect action-packed motorsports, carnival rides, farm animals, and great fair food. It truly is the highlight of the summer season, attracting visitors from all over Indiana.”
A spring tradition continues at the David Owsley Museum of Art in Muncie with “Art in Bloom,” May 16-18, which features innovative floral creations inspired by works in the museum’s galleries. The pleasures will include a public reception on Friday followed by two days by docent-led tours, floral demonstrations, live music, and hands-on crafts for all ages.
In Richmond/Wayne County, you can Tour the Reid Center and view 62 Tiffany stained-glass windows on Saturday, April 12. Visitors will experience the amazing interior that was entirely designed by the Tiffany Glass company. This is a free event. And the first weekend in May you’ll find a tent full of 50% merchandise at the Warm Glow Spring Open House which will include lots of candles, home decor items, garden items, linens, pet items and more.
in Muncie. PHOTO: David Owsley Museum of Art
Also in Richmond is the Model T Homecoming in the Historic Depot District, featuring a swap meet, car show with automobiles from before 1945, Model T rides, food, music, and more. And mark your calendar for June 4 for the First Bloom & Glow, an annual event celebrating the first blooms of roses in the Rose Garden at Glen Miller Park.
At Terre Haute’s Banks of the Wabash Festival you’ll enjoy one of West Central Indiana’s longest running events. Held along the banks of the scenic Wabash River in Fairbanks Park, this annual celebration features carnival rides, food trucks and vendors, live music, and more.
Lafayette will celebrate the season with the Purdue Spring Fest, which showcases the lighter side of higher education, on April 12. Students of all ages will be able to learn about animals, art,
astronomy, and much more with hands-on activities. The festivities also include Gala Week, Mother’s Weekend, Bug Bowl, Horticultural Show, and Veterinary Open House.
The same day TAP for TAF, a fundraiser for the arts, will be serving up craft beers and views of downtown Lafayette from the Tippecanoe County Parking Garage. On April 26 engineering students will compete in the Purdue Grand Prix, a go-kart race that has been held annually since 1958. May 10 and June 14 will bring the first Mosey Down Main Street events. Business owners, artists, musicians, and volunteers will come together once a month (twice in August) to offer free family-friendly activities such as street performers, music, sidewalk chalking, handmade hula hoops, drum circles and DJs, balloon animals, and belly dancers along with food, beer, and wine.
TASTE of Tippecanoe, Lafayette’s annual street festival on June 21 will bring with it live music, local food, and art. On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, the Round the Fountain Art Fair will be in town. This is one of the premier juried fine art fairs in the Midwest when up to 100 artists come from around the nation to showcase their works in a variety of media.
Musicians at the Indiana Fiddlers’ Gathering will be playing bluegrass, swing, jazz, Celtic, ethnic and other types of pieces at the Tippecanoe Battlefield on June 27-29. Meanwhile downtown visitors will be soaking up community spirit at Summer on the Square with artists, makers, boutiques, and food trucks providing creative community activities and yummy sustenance on June 28.
Carrol County is gearing up for Delphi’s annual Indiana Bacon Fest on August 23. This event attracts visitors from all over the Midwest who love bacon, beer, and bands. Expect unusual bacon creations from food vendors, beer and wine from around the state, live music, and family friendly activities.
Food lovers will enjoy a huge culinary event in Historic Downtown Shelbyville on June 6. Taste of Shelby County is back for its 11th year, bringing with it plenty of artisan food trucks and chefs, wine, and brews. The event also features art, live music, photos bus, and fun for the whole family.
The Trail of Courage Living History Festival will bring the past to life on September 20 and 21 in Fulton County. Visitors will commemorate the time when the Potawatomi were forcibly removed from the area by participating in activities such as muzzle-loading contests, tomahawk throws, and historic crafts. They’ll engage in pre-1840 trading, Native American dances, watch historic programs, and eat food cooked over an open fire. October will bring the Chili Cook-Off and Red Hot Car Show, which last year attracted more than 700 vintage cars.
White County is commemorating the 100th anniversary of Lake Freeman with a monthlong celebration. It has been a full century since the reservoir behind the Oakdale Dam was named for a worker who died of complications from appendicitis while the dam was being built.
Cities in the northern part of the state have it going on in a variety of ways. Groovin’ in the Gardens is returning to Elkhart’s Wellfield Botanic Gardens in June with local musicians and tribute bands now performing under the Woodland Pavilion. In South Bend the Potawatomi
Zoo will be lighting up the night with Zoo Luminate, a lantern festival inspired by Asian traditions. In an event that will run from March 19 through May 25, more than 60 lighted displays will be arranged around the zoo grounds.
In Valparaiso on Tuesdays through June and July 1 Summer Outdoor Movies will begin at Central Park Plaza, and the Summer Concert Series will run from July 17 to Aug. 28. July 19 will be the Valparaiso Wine Festival, with more than 100 red, white, and sparkling wines to taste along with food and entertainment. Here they are also looking ahead to the annual Popcorn Festival on September 6, when downtown will come alive with music, food, more than 300 vendors, live entertainment, a play zone, and beer garden. A kick-off concert will be held September 4.
A Rhythm and Soul Fest in East Chicago’s Washington Park will happen on June 21, followed on July 19 by Salsa in the Park at the same location. August 1 they’ll be holding Fusic Fest, a fusion of food, fun and music, at Jeorse Park Beach.
Experience live musicians at the Franciscan Health Pavilion in Crown Point’s Bulldog Park when the Summer Concert Series begins. June 5 opens the Car Cruise Season, when vintage and new cars will congregate each Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m. through September 25. During Taste of Crown Point on July 18 and 19, restaurants will set up booths at this same venue to showcase their most popular dishes.
Whiting’s Pierogi Fest will happen in July, when attendees will be noshing on the delectable Polish dumplings. But that won’t be all. Along with those will be a parade, polka dancing, and carnival rides. Be sure and check out some of Whiting’s other events, like summer car shows, parades, and more.
And in Cedar Lake, experience their Summerfest, with car show, entertainment, boat parade, cornhole tournament, and so much more.
July 12 in Jasper County will find “Music in the Vineyard” at Carpenter Creek Cellars, where food trucks will provide noshes to go along with the wine. Live music will headline the Touch of Dutch festival on Aug. 9, where there will also be a parade, car show, craft and food vendors, giveaways, and fireworks.
The Indiana Dunes Birding Festival is, as one participant called it, “like a music festival but with birds.” With the area’s biodiversity, variety of habitats, and Lake Michigan shoreline, this is a hotspot for both migrating and resident birds. Held this year May 15-18, the event consists of lectures, field trips, social events, a family day, and vendors selling bird-friendly products.
Hammond’s Wolf Lake Pavilion plays host to a summer concert series that starts in June, as well as the Festival of the Lakes. The event celebrates Wolf Lake, George Lake, and Lake Michigan for five days, July 16-20. Admission is free, and activities include concerts, food vendors, carnival rides, a polka party, fishing derby, vendors, and more. It’s all right there on the water, not a bad place to be during an Indiana summer.
For more festivals and events visit: www.travelindiana.com/festivals-and-events/
