What a perfect annual music festival taking over and showcasing all that Garfield Park has to…read moreoffer. I was fortunate enough to win a pair of tickets to both days (thank you Indy Chamber!) so I was excited to check things out, for free. Location: the location is perfect. It's near downtown, but far enough to not have to worry about traffic or congestion, even when construction was going on in the area. Garfield Park is perfect for a music festival, and HOTH showed it's possible. The trees added some much-needed shade during the 2nd day when the sun was beaming down. Weather: the weather made this event perfect - a perfect way to celebrate the first day of fall! Crowds: very small, but high for being its first year. The stages had ample room to stand/sit and listen wherever you wanted to be. Vendors: the vendors were a nice mix - a little of something for everyone. The aluminum cups seemed to be a great hit. A cool idea for next year would be to have that cup come with admission and then you can have beverage vendors set a price where they can fill them up. The food trucks were nice for all dietary needs as well which was great. :) Lots of spaces available for adult beverages from both national and local companies. Lineup: a perfect way to introduce yourself to new bands and fall in love with musicians you already know in the intimate festival experience. Ticketing: getting your wristbands was extremely easy and effortless. Branding/swag: this is where the festival hit the nail on the head for me. The branding was spot-on. From the graphics, you knew exactly what you were getting from the get-go. The swag was amazing and so perfectly designed too :) One concern: beverage licensing. I knew Hotel Tango was a big sponsor of the event but wasn't able to keep their set up in place (with free liquor samples/cocktails) after excise police asked them to tear down, due to licensing issues. That should be addressed next year to ensure all sponsors/vendors are okay in their designated locations.

Wonderful venue. Three stages going at once with very little crossover of the music. Great bands…read more Good food and beverages. Bring your ID for alcohol; you will need to get a wristband to purchase. Plenty of room to move about. Have a friend drop you off or use Uber, parking is free but quite limited. Be prepared to walk, bring a chair. The only seating is in front of the amphitheatre and at picnic tables around the park. Reserved seating applies only to the amphitheatre; no seating in front of the other two stages. Port-o-lets are unisex. Ladies, bring t.p. with you. Enough said.

Lots of fun! Great music and the food was good. Lots of fun vendors. I'd love to see even more in…read morethe future! Maybe some braiders or something. The cruise and bathroom remodel booths were odd.

This is a nice family event, just outside of Indianapolis. They normally hold it at Anson Acres…read morePark, annually, over a weekend in late April/ early May. It has tons of space and has a nice set up. Tickets are $5 per person, with kids 2 and under free. Tickets can be purchased on line or at the gate with cash or card. Parking here is easy, but you may have to walk a bit to get to the gate. I had about a half to quarter mile walk. They have inflatables available for the littles to play, but they were uncomfortably packed. My littles still had a good time playing on them though. The festival is full of food and drink vendors as well as merchandise vendors. You can purchase live action role play (LARP) swords, horns, furs, cups, soap, honey, turkey legs, root beer, lemon or strawberry shake-ups, burgers and fries. There is a stage where they have a Celtic band playing as well as other acts like belly dancers and speakers. They also have a ring in the center of the field where they host LARP battles, next to the field is a fire that was pretty much blowing annoying smoke while I was there. Near the food vendors and to the side of the stage, there are picnic tables under a shelter and tall tables placed in the open field. There are a few spaces that are designated for kids to learn how to sword fight with the LARP swords and learn how to use them. A little walk from the vendors and demo area is what they call Viking village. I think the role players actually live there over the weekend. The have a falcon and hawk handler back there and you will see them doing stuff like actually making dinner and marching to the LARP arena on the other side of the park. The park has a restroom facility, but the organizers have also added some port-a-pottys around the park for visitors. It was a good number because I did not have to wait to use them. For those of you that ate your Wheaties, the organizers host a keg throwing contest for kids, women and men. They use different sizes for different groups with the kids throwing a skillet and the men throwing a full size keg. There is also opportunities for adults to participate in archery and axe throwing. If you do visit, I will recommend a couple of things. First, get there early. You will get a better parking spot and have less of a crowd. Second bring one of those bag chairs. Seating here is limited and goes very quickly. Also, there are refills available on the shake-ups that you can get for almost half the price of the original purchase. Make sure to get your money's worth. Lastly, be aware that the merchandise you can be here is nice, but can be very expensive. I spent almost a $100 for a horn cup with a belt holster for one of my littles. This was a nice day and something different for my littles and I to do. The littles and I stayed here most of the day and the only thing that got us to leave was that they had to shut down due to lightning strikes nearby. I highly recommend checking out this event. At $5 per person, with free parking, it is a deal. You will definitely have lots of fun here. I cannot wait until next year.

My granddaughter is obsessed with fire trucks so I was excited to see the Richard P. Yelp review of…read morethe Indianapolis Fire Department Museum on Mass Ave. The museum opens at 8 am, but when we arrived at 9 am the doors were still locked. We wondered around until we found Cindy, a wonderful lady that opened the museum and led us on a personal tour. She gave my granddaughter a toy firefighter hat, which was fun and special. The museum is housed in one of the few remaining original firehouse buildings, 1872 Fire Station No. 2. The museum was recently restored and is now part of a complex of firefighter support offices. The museum is composed of three large rooms and several halls filled with firefighter artifacts. There were several exquisite antique fire trucks, a hose wagon and an antique pump wagon from the water brigades. A display of fire extinguishers and other hand held artifacts are down stairs. Upstairs, is a room set up like a bunk house, where firefighters would have slept. Lots of amazing photos on the walls tell the tragic stories of famous fires and people. My granddaughter was intrigued by all the firefighter helmets hanging on the walls. Outside, there is a memorial that celebrates the lives and duty of all the fallen Indianapolis firefighters. There is also a lovely bronze statue of a firefighter. The facility also offers classes on fire safety. There is a large meeting room and a class room. The museum is free, but encourages donations. This is a must-visit museum and wonderful place to bring the kids to learn about fire and those who put their lives on the line. Our visit was certainly a memorable experience. There is metered parking along Mass Ave.

The Indianapolis Firefighters Museum was opened by Local 416 in 1996 to celebrate the history of…read morefirefighting in Central Indiana. It's located in what used to be Fire Station #2, a historic station that had opened in 1872 but had fallen into disrepair and at the time was operating as a laminating business. Local 416 restored the station along with an adjacent livery stable. I'd never contemplated stopping here. I'm not sure why, but I don't think I realized this was actually a museum. It features a 1921 Stutz ladder truck, a 1919 Stutz pumper, a 1941 IFD Shop-built pumper, and a 1949 International Harvester pumper that was refurbished by members of the Warren Township Fire Dept. The museum includes quite a bit of memorabilia, photos, and equipment - much of it donated by local firefighters. The station includes a restored bell tower, twin fire poles, and classical/Italianate architectural features. Station #2 is also home to the Indianapolis Professional Firefighters Union headquarters. The museum is open Monday through Friday year-round. It's opened for limited Saturday hours from April-October. They also have a digital collection you can check out from the website (I updated the website as the existing link no longer works). The Fallen Firefighters Memorial Plaza is in front of the museum - which I did know. It was dedicated in 1996 to the memory of 73 firefighters who have died in the line of duty. As of today, it no includes 120 firefighters who died in the line of duty. In front of the museum is the Fallen Firefighters Memorial Plaza. This Memorial was dedicated in 1996 to the memory of the 73 firefighters who have died in the line of duty. Today the names of 120 Line of Duty Deaths appear on our Memorial. There's an annual reading of the names of all of the firefighters. The East end of the building includes the Walk of Distinction for Local 416 war veterans who actively fought in foreign campaigns. If you go to the website, you can even listen to the local dispatch scanner! Finally, the Firefighters Museum includes the Survive Alive safety program for children with an interactive village. The program reaches around 20,000 children annually. The Firefighters Museum, and also serves as the Survive Alive safety program for children. Using an interactive village, The Survive Alive program uses state-of-the-art technology to simulate fire in a mock house to teach children how to react during a fire and what to say when calling 911. This program reaches approximately, 20,000 schoolchildren a year. This is actually a great stop in an area that has quite a bit to do. It's a free museum (donations are accepted). I plan to return when I have a bit more time to visit!

Indy no longer lacks beer events, but there seems to be lull toward the end of the year (as with…read moremost other activities). Taps and Touchdowns fills the void quite nicely. Because the event is held in conjunction with the Big Ten Championship weekend, you can check out the beer fest as well as fan activities on Georgia Street and in the Convention Center. It makes for something fun to do in most likely a chilly December weekend. Taps and Touchdowns features 15+ breweries, as well as ciders and wine. For a beer tasting event, it's just about the right number where you can try everything without missing anything. There were also a few booths peddling food samples, and the VIP option gets you full beers and more substantial food from Clustertruck. While the event drew a nice crowd and The Pavilion (where the event was held) had plenty of space, most of the vendors were set up on one side of the space which made it tougher to navigate. Most people congregated near the breweries and you have to snake your way around to get beer (even though there weren't much of a line). They should consider spreading out the vendors throughout the space. On the other hand, there were a good variety of beers to choose from and the newer breweries were well-represented. As far as entertainment, there were DJ and live band which liven the atmosphere a bit. Ticket prices were quite reasonable, $25 after discount code for 3.5 hours of unlimited sampling. Taps and Touchdowns is a solid event and it's another reason to visit downtown during Big Ten weekend.

So. Much. Beer. Thank goodness for Uber. So much awesome…read morefood too. As soon as I walked in the door I spotted several of my favorites. Bier Brewery, I am making a beeline for you.

I wasn't really sure what to expect at my first Georgia Street Block Party, but I left feeling a…read morelittle disappointed in the events that I saw. What was it? Well, to me, it was a band playing music and a bunch of people sitting around in the sun baking . Could the people sitting down see the band? No, not everyone. In the middle of the venue was a tent that blocked the view from everyone else. Every now and then a server would come by and hand out food, courtesy of the Omni. There were also old-timey cars and people dressed costume, but I never quite heard why. Here's my advice: If you work downtown and you need to kill an hour or so, stop by. Hey, they have a bar, so it can't all be bad, right?! If you're looking for something to do and you see this advertised, don't make a special trip.

Even though the party was almost ending when I got there, my friends and I still had a grand old…read moretime. Our mistake was that we didn't all have cash so we shared food/a drink. We ordered a grilled cheese and didn't recognize what we were handed, however loved it anyways. I'm still (pretty sure) that it was grilled cheese- it was a large piece of pita with a brick size chunk of cheese, topped with several sauces. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. The Moscow Mule was strong and we all agreed it was one of our favorites! There are bean bag chairs lining the road, as well as a few tables you can stand at. The live music was fun and played until well after seven pm (when the event was supposedly over). I recommend going but make sure you go on a day with beautiful weather- makes all the difference!

Not going to lie, I was kind of disappointed with this event. The fact that you literally didn't…read moreget a drop of beer with your ticket purchase was kind of sad. No wait, very sad. I believe Sun King is to a point that they're doing well enough to at least offer ONE drink per ticket to celebrate their anniversary. Right? So having to spend more money immediately after entering was a bummer. We also struggled with finding the tickets to buy the beer. Shouldn't that be the number one thing you'd want to highlight? We walked around for awhile trying to find signage for tickets. **Suggestion for future events: place the signs a bit higher and make them larger. You literally couldn't read them unless you were right by the tent and the signs were at eye level, which is difficult when there's a crowd of people. They did offer some new beer, which is always a good thing. Their GFJ summer release is a hit for a lot of people so I definitely wanted to give it a try again. Approved! I also really enjoyed their sour boysenberry. I don't know ... I just left feeling very underwhelmed. Still enjoyed the time spent with friends, though!

This was a lot of fun on a very hot late-June day. The bands kept the vibe going all day long and…read moreof course the beers kept us all happy and cool. There were sufficient portajohns and food vendors/trucks for the crowds so lines were short there. Beer lines were pretty long early in the day (6 PM), but by 9 PM, you could pretty much walk right up and get served.

I was worried that the weather wasn't going to cooperate as the forecast showed rain the entire…read moreday. Fortunately, it held off and the Blarney Bash was an amazing time! It's always fun to kick off the warm weather with lots of green and what better spot to do it than on Georgia street! This year was a lot better than previous years. The stage was in a better spot, the food trucks and vendors were a better choice, and the overall layout was much better. 4 instead of 5 stars because they started charging $5 for entry this year! Yes, I understand that but charging people to pay for more food and beer is a little frustrating to me. That aside, it was a lot of fun and I can't wait to be back next year! Good to see you there Yelp!

Fun time as always! Really wish there were more areas to sit and also bathrooms within the area. It…read morewas kind of a hassle to go out and wait in line to come back in. The event its self though was a great time and the music was awesome!

Interesting festival with great live performances and demonstrations…read more Unfortunately, turnout was very low. When I was there there were probably fewer than 20-30 non-performers there. If you had a festival where the head janitor of the Indianapolis Colts were the headline speaker there would have been many times more people. Such is the world we live in and the priorities people have. The liver performances and demonstrations are where it's at here. Front rows seats are aplenty. See and try folk instruments. Talk with the performances. And if you are a performer yourself, there are stages where you can perform with other performers.