On the last weekend of April, the annual garden tour at the Lanthier Winery welcomes warm spring breezes and the sweet aroma of a French country garden. Why don't you do the same? The winery is the site of America's only outdoor, interactive "Garden of Art," blooms and scents all around. Free samples of award-winning Indiana wines accompany the garden tour, and master gardeners present free workshops. Visitors get a free samples bag, but a donation to America in Bloom garners a larger bag. Admission is free and you can take home free plants!
From mid-May through Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, events are scheduled leading up to the legendary Indy 500, auto racing's largest purse. Since 1957, this festival has drawn crowds of half a million people, some attending civic events, kids' festival activities and pre-race races. The 1.5 million TV viewers on top of the 450,000 spectators at the race make this over-a-century-old "greatest race in the world." The big parade caps it off, so come on down.
Downtown Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN 46204 in Indianapolis, IN
On the Saturday before the Memorial-Day-weekend race, this giant parade wends through downtown thrilling 300,000 spectators. It's televised and on the level of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and the Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena.
Over three weekends and two full weeks, beginning after the first few days of May, there is a lot of racetrack activity, including two nerve-wracking days of qualifications. The 500 Festival Mini Marathon kicks off the 12 days of action on the track, and it all culminates in the Indy 500 at the Indianapolis Speedway on Memorial Day weekend. Almost half a million visitors fill up the stands at the Brickyard Oval for the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing." See all the pageantry of the event and scream your lungs out with the rest of the crowd.
This unique festival has celebrated the American tradition of the family-friendly circus annually from 1958. The history, however, would make a great film. Seven major circuses wintered in Peru in the late 1800s, and a local man, Ben Wallace, ended up being the recipient of a few exotic animals when one circus owner defaulted. He started his own circus, blind lion and all. Rides, food and games fill up the downtown area during the middle of July for a week as circus performers wow the crowds. The grand finale is the Saturday parade, one of the largest in the state. Find out more about this interesting circus history and enjoy!
