August Events to Generate Millions for Indy, Surrounding Cities
INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis and other surrounding big cities are anticipating a great economic impact while finishing out summer and heading into the fall months.
The Indiana State Fair is expected to see $31 million come through the area in August. Gerry Dick from Inside Indiana Business said the fairgrounds has made a lot of improvements in order to put on a lot of different events year-round, not just during the time of the fair.
“Overall, $200 million is the annual economic impact at the Indiana State fairgrounds with 400 events there,” Dick told WIBC’s Tony Katz this week.
One of the more important pieces that had some renovations done is the Fall Creek Pavilion, which is now seen with more flexibility in hosting events that aren’t always fair-related.
“That ancient building was totally redone,” Dick said. “A massive redo of that.”
The first day of the Indiana State Fair is Friday, August 1. The fair will be closed on Mondays.
At the same time, surrounding cities have building projects planned, underway, or that have been recently complete.
The new Noblesville arena will be home to the Noblesville Boom, the rebranded Indiana Pacers G-League team. The Arena at Innovation Mile is hoping to attract more than just basketball to the city after opening this summer.
The Fishers Event Center was finished last year and is now home to the Indy Fuel hockey team and Fishers Freight indoor football team. It has also already hosted concerts and other forms of entertainment. The project had around a $170 million cost and broke ground in Spring 2023.
Grand Park in Westfield has plans to expand. The City of Westfield and Ed Carpenter Racing have announced the relocation of its corporate headquarters to Westfield. It will be the starting project of the Grand Park District Master Plan. Grand Park is already the host site for the Indianapolis Colts training camp.
“The competitive scene for sports in a variety of ways is indeed very competitive, but also to host concerts and be an entertainment venue,” said Dick about all the major cities around Indianapolis who have major building projects and events in the works.
